


Even a stray has pride

by Ety (Miss_Ety)



Series: As Surely As Irons [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Family, Fights, Friendship, Gen, Ghosts, Platonic Romance, Secrets, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Ety/pseuds/Ety
Summary: [Chapter 10: The Invasion is ONLINE! What will happen to Noah?]It was a long way to hell before Noah fon Ronsenburg became Judge Gabranth. Who exactly is this blonde guy? How was his relationship with Basch? And how did the two brothers part ways, making Noah look towards Archadia and walk until he became the chief of all Judge Magisters?





	1. Part I: Childhood's End - My name is Noah

**Even a stray has pride**

** Part I – Childhood’s End **

_Uwielbinie village, 681 (o. V.)_

I have been living here since forever, and I find no reason to move.

In the village, there are enough fields to work in, and my mother would probably follow me until the very end. She is brave and very patient, and she has taught me all I know; it is thanks to her that I am now able to face the ups and downs of life with a relatively peaceful attitude. Lindiwe Gabranth is a very active worker, and in the same time a perfect mother, taking care of two sons alone: my brother and I. My father is a soldier; he used to live with us, but it seems to be so long ago. And, to be honest, I prefer things to be as they are.

My mother, who's being called Linda Fon Ronsenburg in her new homeland, is full of life, hopes and energy… But on the other hand she's overall shy and quiet, to the extent that nobody ever takes her word seriously, and everyone treats her with pity rather than with respect. Just like me.

My brother Basch is the smartest of us all. Everything seems to fit him : he's clever, he's ambitious, he's funny, he's easy-going, and he's handsome. Well, the last point may seem confusing since we are twin brothers, but to me there are slight differences that make him look better than me.

My brother and I used to go to elementary school, but we haven't gone further because our family's means have grown fewer and fewer. However, we've kept contact with our friends who've pursued their classes and we're learning a lot from chatting with them. So the three of us have been working in various lands, collecting vegetables and fruits or taking care of flocks, and everything has been fine during all this period.

I am an ordinary citizen of Landis, and my name is Noah Fon Ronsenburg.


	2. Part I: Childhood's End - A new friend

I was wandering in a woody road, in a hasty pace. The images of the trees were passing fast, before my eyes; I was spinning in total emptiness and I found this feeling delightful. Actually I didn’t want to see one more clear image anymore.

How could he treat his brother like that ? We were calmly enjoying a cup of tea in our little terrace when Basch made fun of me. He had done that several times in the past, but this time I really felt something had burst inside my head and I was about to lose my mind. So… so I thought it was better to lose it outside the house.

I began to reach places that were unknown to my memories. All these green grounds and numerous flocks had no fellow landscape between all those I’d seen in the village surroundings. In particular, there were these squares of flowers, with a different color family each. Even the shapes of the flowers were different and finely arranged, in order to make a unique and strong-tempered impression to the observer. This vision, just a few paces away from the forest, was such a wonder. However, as I was running faster and faster, I progressively remembered something about the owner of the lands I was walking. I remembered a story of rivalry between my father and a farmer neighbour by the name of Karol Olszewski. He was rich, as he could sell all of his products with ease. He had a chain of workers at his orders and my father would always show that up and say Olszewski was a ridiculous coward who’s only thinking of taking advantage of the others. This farmer and his men must have been gone long ago, by now. There was only the immutable picture of the past left ; and silence. I lowered my eyes and went on, like a challenger of the speed of sound.

I can still see my mother laughing. Of course, she has always been the first one to defend Basch, her beloved son. Who could be the reckless, heartless person who dared to criticize this perfect being ? All his words were wisdom, and all his jokes were funny. He was always the one who had the last word at home. So, saying I was clumsy and bad-looking could be nothing else than a brilliant joke, or a deceitful truth.

But that was unfair, unfair; and I threw a stone in rage with all the strength of my right foot.

‘Kweh ?’

I stopped at once, and hesitated before raising my head towards what was standing in front of me. When I found myself running into a huge yellow chocobo, I let out a piercing girlish scream. I then heard a resonant laugh coming from above, but I was too afraid of the chocobo to venture a look.

‘What is it ?’

As I was thinking of a calm way to get me out of this tricky situation, a short man with a white moustache came from nearby the farm. He had a straw hat and a very cruel expression that seemed to never leave his face: frowning, pursing his lips, and letting his dotted cheeks, all blighted by farm work, go red. Karol Olzsewski quickly stepped forward with a rake in his hand :

‘If it isn’t the Ronsenburg lice ! As ill-behaved as ever ! You’re just as blond-haired, empty-minded as your father !’

The farmer was shouting at me as I was trying to avoid the rack he was attacking me with. I tried to explain :

‘No, please, Sir, I… I…’

‘Silence ! Not a single excuse will be accepted. The Ronsenburg family has caused too much trouble to mine to be able to be forgiven now !’

‘I… I’m sorry, I know nothing about this…’

‘Don’t try to escape, you pitiful beetle !’

‘I meant no harm, I…’

‘Hey, Faaather, don’t be too mean to him, will ya ?’

As I succeeded in avoiding the last – unexpected – attack from the farmer, and the chocobo was watching us like a referee would observe a sports match, the voice coming from above manifested again.

‘Don’t ever think he’s worth anything !’

‘I know, I know !’

‘He’s just like his father, a waste of time and space ! Let me tell you again how he used to cheat in official competitions…’

‘Alright, alright ; I know this, Father, you told me this story a million times. I don’t think he’s wonderful, I just think you might give him some credit.’

And finally, Olszewski lowered his weapon – which had still been pointed at me.

‘Fine’, he said, ‘but never think he comes from a good family ! He comes from the lowest dump of Landis ! His father is a scoundrel and his mother is an Archadian rebel !’

‘I know, I know’, repeated the voice in an obliging tone. It was a girl’s voice.

And as soon as I deigned to raise my head to see who was talking, the farmer ran back as fast as he came, already screaming at his workers on the other side of the fields.

‘A good morning thrill, wasn’t it ?’

At the first floor of the house, staring at the scene from a balcony, was standing a little girl who could be more or less my age. She was a bit short, with mid-long hair which was as blond as the Ronsenburg hair. As she saw me without a word nor a move, she began to laugh again and disappeared from the balcony. As I was thinking what to do next, she rejoined me and took my hand. She was wearing a pink dress, which looked like the Dalmascan queen’s one when she came to meet the President in my country.

‘You have to forgive my father. He’s a little bit hasty but… that’s his way to be. I suffer this everyday but I don’t mind ; he’s my father after all.’

Since I still didn’t give her any answer, she began to frown just like her father, then smile in an enthusiastic move :

‘I strongly believe your mother and your father are good persons. My name is Nareszcie Olszewska.’

I tried to greet her but all that came out of my mouth was :

‘W… What ?’

My word automatically made her lean forward and laugh louder than before.

‘Ha ha ha ! I expected you to react like that. Well, I’m little Nareszcie, the daughter of the farmer, but you can just call me Naria.’

‘I… I’m Noah Fon Ronsenburg.’

This time, I could say something. That’s so relieving. She pressed my hand, smiled, and began to walk. I wasn’t prepared for this and was about to stumble, but I fell on something vivid that helped me stand up again.

‘Thanks, chocobo’, Naria said.

And there we were on walking before I realized what had just happened.

‘Fine then, where do you live ?’

What was that question ?

‘I… my family lives in a house a little farther in the south.’

‘Well, let’s follow that direction !’ she exclaimed, raising her free arm in determination.

What was happening ? Why was she here ? And what was I doing ? But it was too late for thinking. After going through all the fields and stepping in each muddy track, we were already in front of my home.

‘Well’, Naria said. ‘What are you waiting for ? Open the door and introduce me to your family !’

What was I supposed to do ? Should I let her in, she might have broken every single piece of the furniture or the dishes ; and at the end, as usual, the blame will anyway come back to me. But on the other hand, there was this little girl waiting, and she was putting some mystic pressure on me, without even moving a finger or looking at me.

‘O… okay…’ I said without any kind of determination.

‘Alright’, she suddenly exclaimed, and she pushed the main door in the following second.

A big wave of fresh fright suddenly wrapped my body. What did I do ? What was yet to come ?

‘Hello everyone !’

My mother was preparing lunch and was standing back to us. She turned towards the door, blinking with astonishment.

`Err…’ I said in a low tone. `This… is…’

`Good morning, ma’am’, Naria interrupted. `I am Nareszcie Olzcewska, daughter of the farmer Olzcewski, owner of the domain in the north of the village! And I am very happy to be here today.’

My mother blinked again. She never got actually angry, but I was afraid she would be so today. And I’d have understood her if she would. But instead she smiled, and said:

`Welcome here then, Nareszcie.’

`Oh ma’am, please call me Naria.’

`And please call me Linda.’

`Oh…’

Naria seemed dazzled. Basch, who was sitting between my mother and us and hadn’t uttered a word, suddenly burst into laughs. And Naria, after noticing his presence in the black armchair, laughed as well. I felt very ill-at-ease at this moment, more than ever before. I had lost all my landmarks, it was as if I had never entered this house. But what I didn’t notice is that Naria was as troubled as I was. She began observing Basch, who was observing her in turn, in a mix of joy and amazement. And then she looked at me. And then she looked at Basch again.

`Noah here… and Noah there ? What’s happening inside my head ?’ she exclaimed.

This time, it was my mother’s turn to start laughing.

`The boy you came with is Noah, and the one you see here is Basch. I have twin sons.’

Basch smiled to her and came towards us.

`Allow me to welcome you here as well. I am indeed Basch, and I am very honored to meet your acquaintance, dear lady.’

And then he bent clumsily, with his eyes closed. My brother was so pathetic.

`Tw… Twin… Twin sons! I get it now! Hahaha!’

And Naria began to dance all around the room.

`I have never seen twin persons before! This is so funny!’

And of course, Basch took the opportunity to dance with her, which she enthusiastically agreed.

`We have so much fun dancing !’ Naria exclaimed. `Will you come to the feast of the village, next week ?’

`Of course !’ Basch answered.

The village organizes a feast every year since I was born ; it’s an evening party around a fire, where many couples – from young to old – dance and sing. It is common to elect, at its end, the best dance.

`So you, too, are used to join the feast ?’ my mother asked. `I have never seen you there. Next time, you can dance with the boys, they will be more than happy !’

No thanks.

`Well’, she continued, ‘I thought your father already told you about the twin sons, Naria.’

`Not really’, she answered as she stopped dancing and Basch invited her to take a seat. `He always talks about your family, but one day he says you are too weak to give birth to a single child, the other he says you have one son and on another day again he says you have so many children you can’t run your house properly anymore.’

That seemed to make my mother suffocate with hilarity.

`He says you stink like a sick chocobo and you’re not worth anything at all. He calls you the Ronsenburg plague.’

`I guess this is his way to have fun’, suggested Mom.

`Yes. But don’t worry : I don’t believe a single word he says. He is getting old and begins to lose his mind, but he is nonetheless my father, so you have to forgive his behavior.’

`That’s no problem at all !’ shouted Basch with determination before asking anyone’s opinion. Naria smiled and went on:

`So, you understand, at the end of the way I had no idea who you were at all. But I’m very glad I do, now !’

`That’s very nice’, Mom said. `But tell me, honey : won’t your father be angry if he hears you’ve been here ?’

At this moment, Naria covered her mouth with her two palms and rolled her eyes in a so-called fear. She seemed to be a good actress.

`Oh yes, ma… Err, yes, Auntie Linda. He will, and I shall return soon, but I wanted to stay with you now anyway.’

Mom invited her to lunch – she didn’t seem to understand the girl had already invited herself at any rate – as Basch rushed to his room. The sun was so bright outside. The look of the colored flowers that surrounded Olzcewski’s house came to my mind and made me smile. I could imagine the little girl running between them, laughing as she did, and riding her curious chocobo. Standing here without a move, I was feeling like an unnecessary piece of furniture or decoration.

`Tell me, Auntie Linda, is it true you are an Archadian ?’

I blamed Naria so much for asking this. What’s the point in reminding it if we’re all together now ? However, my mother answered calmly, as always :

`Yes, this is true. I was born in Archades and was living there until I married the soldier Ronsenburg.’

`Did you marry there ? Who came to your wedding ? How was your dress ?’

My mother smiled, and said :

`No, we could not marry in Archades. My family was harassing me and asking me to get rid of him ; and since I had made my resolve, I chose to fled with him to Landis. So I had neither wedding party nor beautiful dress.’

Naria seemed really grieved.

`This is so sad, auntie’, she said. `But what was mister Ronsenburg doing in Archades ?’

`Nothing. I am the one who went to Landis, for research. I was a student at the time, in the Imperial Academy of Science. I was studying biology and botany, which then led me to agriculture.’

`Wow! They say this is the hardest civilian Academy to get in.’

`I was actually switching between it and the Academy of Magicks, to learn white magic.’

`Seriously? You rock, auntie! Will you teach me some?’

`I’ll do with all pleasure’, Mom smiled as the girl charged her weapon again:

 ‘So why did you drop everything and came here with your husband?’

Naria, evidently, was not the kind to mind her own business.

`This is life, darling. I made this choice and do not regret it until now. The villagers are very kind and have accepted me as one of theirs. I have been accustomed to the people, the weather and the culture, and cannot think of a happier life than the one I’m living now. It is true Ronsenburg is not the mildest man on Ivalice, but I got used to his habits and his moods, and I respect him as the father of my sons. Moreover, he’s barely at home, which is not a bad thing’, she said with a wink.

These two looked like they got along very well. Which was not a bad thing.

`Don’t you have brothers and sisters?’

It was my mother’s turn to ask.

`I should have had a little brother, but he died soon after he was born. And my mom died as well in a bombing exercise near our farm, when I was four.’

`Oh dear… you have come through all this alone! You’re welcome to visit us whenever you need company. I will be a mother for you as much as I am Noah’s and Basch’s. Who took care of you then?’

`Thank you, Linda! Oh… my father called his sister.’

`Was she nice?’ Basch asked with some disgust.

`No.’

They began laughing.

`Alright kids’, Mom said, ‘I will prepare the table. You can play outside in the meantime!’

And she went back to the food.

I returned outside, with my head empty. I made another pace forward, with a bitter feeling tying my throat, when I felt a hand taking mine.

`Don’t go away, Noah.’

I twisted and saw Naria again. I sighed and kept on walking in the garden.

`I want to know something: why did you venture in our lands?’

My look was as blank as my hopes. But there was not only me in the garden; there was another person, and all the hopes of the world had gathered in her eyes. I gasped, checked that no one was looking at us in the window, and finally opened my mouth to say:

`Basch has been mocking me all morning. It’s not the first time he does – I’m really sick of hearing him say I’m the least interesting person of the world, seeing him enjoy his time with the others and constantly feeling like I’m going to faint in my lonely, dark dimension. I was looking for a place to hide in and cry, so I ran as far as possible from here; that’s how I got there!’

Her hand had shivered as I began talking, approaching my head from her ear. Now she would finally say something silly and let me go. I moved back, swallowing my anger, freeing my sadness and retrieving my hand. Yes, now she would let me go. Why stay with me anyway?

`Noah.’

She joined me and took my hand again. When I dared to give a new look to her eyes, I noticed with unexpected surprise they were as wet as mine. Her face was shining brighter than ever. She seemed committed to say something important as a gentle wind was shaking her golden hair. Then she hugged me with her free arm and I heard her comforting voice:

`Listen to me. I know Basch is not an easy one to live with. From what I can see, you’re too different. But you do not hate him, do you? He has many qualities worthy of praise and jealousy, right? He’s your brother, isn’t he?’

My… brother? The world was fading out of my teary eyes, I could see no right and no wrong. But… this truth…

‘Yes, he is. What you just said is… true.’

She moved back and smiled again.

`I knew you would agree! Don’t get me wrong: he didn’t have to say these things at all. But we can try and understand him, instead of just running away. Together we’ll reconcile, play and have a great time. I will ensure that this wicked brother does not make you cry again.’

She pressed my hand even more strongly.

`From now on I’ll always be by your side. Don’t lose hope, Noah, okay? As long as I’m here, everything will be alright. You can tell me your secrets and confess your fears. Though I seem chatty, I’ll tell them to no one, I promise; you hear me? I want you to overcome them and succeed in what you want to do. I’ll help you by any means. I’ll be your new friend.’


	3. Part I: Childhood's End - The Feast

 

 

It had been a long week since Basch and I met Naria, the daughter of the fearful farmer. We came to visit the farm twice, and found the girl busy giving a hand to the team of workers.

`Hey! Why didn’t you warn me you’d come! I haven’t changed dress!’ she’d said.

`How did you want us to warn you?’ Basch had asked.

`Emm… Right. Well, hello, anyway!’

And she’d waved to us with all her arm and a smile that ate half her face.

The second time, Basch and I agreed to join in the job to have it done by the end of the day, which we succeeded to do. We had big bursts of laughs, a nice lunch with the workers, and much, much fun under the warm sun. Everything was like perfect.

`Well, you know the feast’s date is coming close.’

We were having tea at home. My mother had put the tray and went back to work. She always welcomed Naria with open arms; and I understood this behavior. It must be so hard to grow up as a child without a mother.

`Yeah. So what? We’re gonna dance together and we’re gonna win. Anything against that?’ said Basch after loudly drinking a sip.

`No, no’, Naria objected, raising her forefinger. `That’s not exactly it, because I wanna dance with Noah too!’

`Oh come on’ Basch said with a laugh. `Who’d want to dance with that handicapped savage cuss.’

`Hey, hey! I won’t allow you to talk this way of your brother. Noah is a clever boy, and as gallant as you are. Well, I’d even say he’s worth more than you, because he doesn’t talk of you in such mean words!’

I thought Naria’s past promise was a joke, because she seemed to get along so well with Basch, but reality just showed me it was a strong will of hers. I felt so grateful.

`Now Basch’, Naria said, always with her cheerful tone. `I’ll dance with both him and you. And I don’t want to you to say ill of Noah again. Understood?’

`Yeah…’ Basch lamented, looking at the window.

Naria and I exchanged a skeptical look.

`Fine, fine. I see you’re talking about the event already.’

The three of us turned towards the door. Mom was there, smiling at us.

‘Wait’, said Basch in astonishment. `Weren’t you supposed to be working?’

`There was not much to do today, so I’m already finished. I supposed you’ve already worn your finest clothes.’

This had to be a joke, for what we were wearing could be easily qualified as pajamas.

`But… Auntie’, Naria said. ‘I thought the feast was tomorrow. There hasn’t been the bard yet.’

Among our traditions was a chant sung by a young bard, who used to travel across the neighborhoods in the feast’s morning.

`He did pass, my dear. You were just too dizzy to hear him, all sleepy in your respective beds!’

Mom wasn’t wrong. We hadn’t woken up early this morning, and I don’t think I would have even if a war had started. I lowered my head in shame.

`Don’t show me that face, Noah’, said Mom with a laugh. ‘Be a gentleman instead and prepare to welcome your new friend among the best dancing couples of the village!’

‘Wait! Wait!’ shouted the girl before rushing outside. ‘I didn’t bring my dress from the farm!’

‘What about me?’ questioned Basch in anger.

`Did Naria allow you to accompany her dance?’ calmly asked my mother.

`Yeah.’

`So get dressed and go with her. Noah…’

‘I know what to do, Mom. It’s okay.’

She smiled again.

`Fine. I want you all to give a good image of me at the village. I’m counting on you to represent me as well as if I’d been there!’

`But, Mom, won’t you be with us? Like every year?’

`No, Basch, I’m sorry. I feel a bit tired today. But don’t worry, it’s nothing. I’ll be waiting for you here. Have fun and don’t go playing around; stay with your friends, okay?’

We had to promise and went to our room.

When the sun began to deliver a crimson shadow over the horizon, I had met up with my brother and my new friend at our favorite place, next to a rock behind the huge fire. Yes, Naria also was behind the fire but as I’d said we’d never noticed her before. She must have been with other people, whom we didn’t know, dancing and chatting on her side. She had no problem making friends. That night, she was wearing a pink dress, with red ribbons tied on her shoulders in the shape of a bird. I tried to tell her I found these cute but I didn’t manage to.

`Look! It’s the Ronsenburg brothers!’

`What are they doing with Olszewski’s daughter?’

Naria turned towards the different voices that began to chat after noticing our presence, then she laughed and simply took Basch’s hand and began dancing. The bard came again and sang his joyful song, along with a traditional orchestra, composed of many young people I used to have class with. They smiled to me and performed several new music pieces while other couples were dancing as well. Distinguished food was at our disposal on elegantly-laid tables, food like Mom would never be able to afford. I felt at ease, but some part of me wouldn’t let me breathe. I made some paces away from the crowd and tried to focus on the nearby trees and the scent of the grass. It was so nice to feel this quiet in plain nature – strange that last time I tried to do this it ended up in a weird friendship with an unknown girl. Suddenly my feet bumped into a rock – it had become completely clear. I turned backwards with a smile on my face; now I knew what it was that was annoying me: it’s the fact that the girl took Basch’s hand exactly the way she’d taken mine while guiding me to my own house.

`Oh! It’s so nice to see you here!’

I turned to the voice who spoke and saw a brown-haired teenager who wore glasses and a very elegant suit. Next to him, Basch and Naria were still dancing, laughing out loud between clumsy moves.

`I’m also happy to meet you again, Cirla.’

Cirla Drimer was probably the most intelligent boy I knew in all Landis. He had always got the best marks in calculation and language tests, by the time I used to go to school in the city. He was accompanied by his younger sister, who was just below our age (Basch, Naria and I); she also had glasses and beautiful brown curls that fell upon her shoulders. Both of them had been at my school, but I’d heard they also stopped their courses there to begin something else. I didn’t know what it was, but I wasn’t afraid: there wasn’t a single subject where those two did not excel.

`I am also glad to meet you, Margit.’ I said.

`Oh, thank you’, the girl said, with her cheeks all red. I always thought she was as cute as a moogle.

`What have you been doing all this time, Noah? We haven’t seen you in town for ages!’ Cirla said.

`I’m sorry. We have much work here in the village; and lately Basch and I have also been working at Olszewski’s farm, so there’s even less time to travel to the city.’

`What? Ols…zewski, you said?’

`You know him, Cirla?’ little Margit asked.

`Y… yes, I’ve heard that name before. I think it’s a schizophrenic old man scaring chocobos away at the back of the village.’

Cirla’s summary made me laugh.

‘That’s approximately it. He only has one chocobo, who is friends with his daughter, Naria. She came here as well.’

And I showed them the place where Basch and her were dancing.

`She seems to like Basch a lot’, Margit said.

`She surely doesn’t know how bad he is at basic mathematical operations’, Cirla added with a smile.

`Should we tell her?’ asked his sister.

Cirla hesitated.

`No, I think it’d be less fun. Let us just greet them!’

I let them go to Basch, who introduced them to his partner, and walked away. But soon enough, I felt again the hand holding mine. I moved my arm away.

`What’s wrong, Noah? Why don’t you come with us?’

`I’m fine, Naria, I’m… I’m just hungry.’

I looked right at her sky blue eyes to watch for any reaction, but she fortunately smiled and answered: ‘Alright. We’re waiting for you, then. Eat what you like and inform me if you find anything delicious!’

She hadn’t known me long enough to understand it was a prank. I however went to the tables, to comply with my lie, and acted as if I was actually hungry. I didn’t come back to the group. In the beginning, to be honest, I thought I would, but then… then, something prevented me from laughing and chatting with them. Once again, Naria came to find me. She lowered her head, since I was sitting on a chair and she was standing.

‘Why are you staying here for so long? Do you enjoy looking at this table? Or are the people here more interesting than us?’

`That’s not it, Naria.’

`Then stand!’

I had no choice but to obey. She took my arm and said with a delightful voice:

`These friends of yours are so cool! They’re smart, but not narrow-minded. They know what it is to have fun. And the girl is so cute! What do you think they will become? Doctors?’

`I don’t know. We hadn’t taken classes together since a whole year.’

`That’s okay. You met up again now! And right now, you’ve also got to dance with me. Remember?’

Oh, yeah… that.

I accepted in a way that would not have convinced any girl but her, allowed her to take my hand and we began making paces left and right, at the rhythm of the joyful music the orchestra was still playing. I had thought it would be a bad moment, but eventually I felt at ease and Naria, as I could easily notice now, was an excellent dancer. It’s like she’d done that all of her life. I tried to follow her moves and dared to make some unexpected gestures, like making her turn around or fall over my arm. After some time, people became to gather around us to watch the dance. There wasn’t anything special to it, in comparison with the other couples, but their presence didn’t bother me. And of course, didn’t bother Naria. After we were done, there was a rising applause. Naria laughed and applauded with them. Afterwards, I saw adults gathering in a corner of the place. They were surely debating about this year’s best dance. Cirla and Margit went to us.

‘You two were so brilliant!’ Margit said. `I wonder who this year’s winners are going to be.’

`After that we’ll have to be going’, Cirla warned. `The city is a pretty long way from here and our parents asked us not to come back too late at night. But we will miss you, Noah! Will you visit us someday?’

I don’t know why my answer was:

`Me… Why me? Why not Basch?’

I turned towards him. He was busy eating all sorts of candies.

`Err…’ Cirla began.

‘Basch is a nice friend but he will not be willing to talk when it comes to study’, explained Margit. This girl had a sense of sincerity I could barely imagine.

‘And since you were at school the one we could talk to about various lessons and subjects…’ added her brother.

`And, concerning your new friend…’ Margit continued.

`It’s better if you come without her, I’m sorry’, Cirla decided. ‘Our parents still don’t know her so there’ll be less problems if you could come alone.’

‘Yes… I understand.’

Basch had indeed always been fleeing our group when we began to talk about classes or cultural topics. Suddenly, I heard the adult group’s silence. They scattered around the tables and the orchestra began playing a new music, with a much higher tempo than the previous ones. The adult dancers took random people’s hands and began to form a row. Naria seemed to approve this idea, since she spontaneously took my hand, called Basch to take his; Cirla went next to Basch and Margit to me. The five of us joined the row in its half, and everybody began to dance together, raising one leg after the other and singing popular songs. At the end of that night, I was tired like never before, but also filled with a feeling I’d thought would have been gone forever. I was smiling and about to ask Basch to go back home when Naria reminded me of the results. I listened carefully to a tall short-haired woman making a list of all the old and young people who participated in today’s feast, and all the waves of applause, like a caring wind blowing people’s fears away. After everyone was acclaimed, she said:

`And now let us conclude this celebration by announcing the two winners. After asking for the audience’s choices, my comrades and I have come to an announcement. This year’s feast champions are…’

We looked at each other in a mix of fear and amusement.

`Little Miss Olszewska and…’

Funny it was a young person, but in that case it had to be her, that was obvious.

`Little Sir Fon Ronsenburg!’

`Which one?’ Basch and I asked at the same moment.

The woman smiled to us both. Everyone began to laugh.

`Your performance was a pleasure to see but most votes went to Noah’, she told my brother.

Starting from this moment, I was swimming in a sea of fraternity and surprises; everyone surrounded Naria and I, and the blonde girl did not seem to be sad it was me. Basch crossed the crowd to say:

`Well… I definitely don’t understand people’s choices but… err… I have to admit you did well, brother. Here I said it, Naria; you’re glad?’

`Yes, I’m super glad!’ she exclaimed, throwing vertically the bouquet of flowers she just earned. As for me, an old man gave me a big bag of flour.

`This is for Linda’, he said. ‘This woman is wonderful. I hope she’s doing fine with all the work.’

`We’re all doing fine, thank you’, I responded, while carrying the heavy thing.

All the others were free and I had a burden on my shoulders, but all the others were moving their shoulders in joy and my joy was free.


	4. Part I: Childhood's End - Law lessons

 

The weeks after the feast were the most hard-working ever. Basch and I were working all day, alternating farms to carry big amounts of boxes, dig out vegetables and sort them, and also calculate how much gil each box could make us earn. Well, I have to admit I alone was in charge of that part.

For the first time, I felt my body was not following my mind. Working days began to feel more dreadful, one after the other, and there had been days I had wondered if I could make it till the end. On her side, Mom was also working, on different farms. She didn’t speak a word about the fatigue that began to overwhelm me, about the evenings when I could barely eat dinner because my head could not stay up straight anymore. She just told us every morning that we had to work on this or that farm, to sell the goods at this bazaar, and to come back with that amount of money. It felt like she could see nothing beyond my blank morning eyes. I could not blame her, though. I knew what it must feel like, to be a lone mother with two children to feed and dress, and a husband more absent than alive. Or at least, until that day.

Our mother made us wake up really early. I was having a nightmare worse than I could ever have imagined. I was fighting a giant snake with a woody sword, and the creature was about to eat me whole.

‘No! No!’ I shouted.

Then, Mom began to calm down. She slowly whispered, turned towards Basch’s bed, who must have already waken up, and afterwards, to mine. I could not hear the voices, I was still on the battlefield.

‘No I won’t! No I won’t!’

‘Easy, Noah. I’m here now. You won’t get any work to do today.’

At this moment, like the realization of something, my eyes began to open and my brain to connect to the real world. The pain I have felt silently all over these weeks was knocking on my door, making me feel more useless than ever, but still, somehow, happy.

‘Listen to me, boys’, Mom said.

We sat down on our beds and lent her our ears.

‘I know you’ve been working hard these days. Too hard. I must apologize for what I’ve made you go through.’

I was about to tell her it was okay, and I’m sure the same thought crossed Basch’s mind, but instead, the surprise of her tone kept us silent.

‘You’re my sons. You’re supposed to be the gift of my life, the treasure of the village, the hope of all Landis; but instead I just made you face the worst suffering, day after day, as if it was your only fate!’

And then, the tears began to flow.

‘Mom!’ we shouted, and at the same moment, we jumped into her arms.

‘My little sons… my darlings… I’m so sorry for this… I wish I could earn some more money, so I could spare you and let you pursue your own destinies… But instead you’re here stuck in land work, without me even knowing if you agree with it or not!’

‘Don’t worry, Mom’, Basch said. ‘We’re really enjoying it. The farmers we’re working with are very nice – well, except Olszewski – and when she’s with us, Naria is a great help, and we’re having so much fun together. Right brother?’

‘Yes’, I confirmed. ‘I couldn’t have said any better. Even if it’s not easy at times, we always manage to get away with a good pay and good memories.’

‘Noah…’ Mom said, still in tears.

‘Well, Noah is a coward, as you know’, Basch added with a sarcastic grin. He’s always the first to come down, he looks like he can’t handle any more with his tiny arms!’

‘Enough, Basch’, Mom said harshly. ‘As I said, I know what I’m making you go through and it’s absolutely not fit for two boys such as you. Noah is right to feel what he’s feeling right now, and it must be stupid to let him and you continue on this rhythm any longer.’

‘But, Mom…’ I began.

‘No, Noah, I know what it is. Please don’t say anything that’s a lie to your mother. You’re not supposed to do all this and that’s that. I was expecting some more money from your father, so he could help us, but…’

‘Yeah, Mom’, Basch said. ‘He hasn’t talked to us for a while. We understand and that’s why we agreed to do all this. It isn’t such a big deal, you know!’

Mom sighed.

‘Anyway’, she said. ‘It’s important that you understand why work has been particularly intense lately, for me and for you. I’m especially proud of you, guys!’

Her smile enlightened the whole room, though there was no sun.

‘And the bag of flour you earned from the feast has been a big help too’, she added with a wink at my direction.

Basch stretched his arms and neck and yawned noisily.

‘So, boys’, Mom said. ‘Now I want you to have your morning bath and be all ready to meet me at the living room. I’ve got some surprise to announce to you soon. Alright?’

‘What?’ we both said, and we immediately made a leap towards the living room.

‘No, no, no’, Mom insisted, pulling the hair of each one of us. ‘Bath first, you dirty boys!’

‘Aaalright’, Basch sighed, very disappointed.

When Mom left the room, we exchanged a dazed look, then I let him go to the bathroom while I was gathering my clothes, before we exchanged, as we’re used to do – yes, Basch looks for his clothes all naked.

After a short time, we were both ready in the living room, Basch sitting on the edge of the back of the big armchair, and I waiting under the shelves of books.

‘Right then’, Mom said. ‘I can see you’re set.’

‘Yeah, Mom’, Basch said in a hurry. ‘What’s the big thing you want to announce?’

She smiled to us both. Even I, who was not speaking and had no idea what was to come.

`You know your father has not given to us a single sign of existence. That is not true anymore.’

‘What?’

Basch fell head first onto the ground while my own head hit the first shelf above it. My mother was all laughs.

‘That’s not right to us, Mother! Please tell us what’s happening! We can’t wait!’

When Basch called her Mother, it means he’s all nerves.

‘It’s as you heard’, she said. ‘I’ve had news from your father’.

Basch tried to say something but I believe the words kept stuck inside his throat because he fell again. My mother turned towards me.

‘A letter has come this morning. It was not written by your father himself, but by a comrade who knows him at his regiment. It’s an officer who says your father is well and in good health, and who could not leave the family without news, knowing the soldier himself would write nothing.’

‘It’s so mean from Father to leave us alone like that!’ screamed Basch.

‘At least now we know where he is’, Mom added in a calm tone.

‘Where?’

It was my turn to get choked. Father? Knowing his place? That’s never been the case in ages!

‘Your father’s troop is currently located in the training camp at the north of the village.’

Basch and I stared at her like two fishes who were just captured.

‘Why doesn’t he come to us? Do you even know if he plans to?’

‘Don’t expect him to come’, she calmly added. ‘He will not.’

A mix of anger and sadness filled my heart. Why? Why always ignoring us, as if we were not part of the same family?

‘The officer advised him to do so, but he refused. That’s why he sent a letter saying they are nearby.’

‘Then it unfolds to us to go see him’, Basch concluded.

‘Would you, Basch?’ I objected.

‘Well…’ he said, lowering his head. ‘I don’t know’.

‘We shall think about that’, said my mother. ‘We will decide later, and not follow hasty ideas; you know this part of the forest is dangerous.’

‘Yes, Mom’, we agreed.

Basch spent the rest of the day outdoors, I didn’t know exactly what he was doing. As for myself, I had an idea, but haven’t dared to suggest it yet.

‘Mom…’

‘Yes?’

She was in the kitchen.

‘I’d like to pay a visit to Cirla and Margit in the city. Can I?’

‘In the city?’

It was located north-east. It was where Basch and I used to go to school at the time. We used to board a cart carried by a couple of chocobos, for ten gils. I knew that specific day was a day off for high school students, so my friends would be at home.

‘I don’t know where Basch has gone…’

She seemed to be worried, her arms shaking in all directions.

‘Well, you can go without him, after all. He must be busy doing who-knows-what who-knows-where.’

Thanks, Mom.

‘I trust you for being careful, my son’, she added.

‘Oh Mom, you know I’ve taken this path a zillion times. Goodbye!’

I took the coin she was holding out to me and left.

The path indeed reminded me of my old days, where I didn’t have to care about… as many things as now. Father? Here? Why? Does that make any difference anyway? I don’t know. Is seeing him a really good idea? Isn’t his role as a father to come back home during his free days, when he’s so close? To help us, even with a smile? Basch seems doubtful, although he had always been the first to denounce his violent behavior towards our mother.

‘Waldgott?’

‘Yes, sir’.

I came down the cart and began walking across the city. I could remember every path and building that was between the station and my friends’ house. I managed to draw a smile on my face while I was approaching a garden where a young girl was collecting flowers.

‘Noah!... Noah! Is it you? Is it really you?’

‘Hello, Margit.’

She seemed to have found something close to heaven because she threw at once all the flowers she had and her face was showing something between amazement and disbelief.

‘Cirla! Cirla? Come down, you harebrained uneducated boy! Noah is here!’

A low hoarse voice came from the upper window.

‘Please give me a moment. It’s not everyday that I’m sick, Margit.’

‘Sick? Oh please. Don’t call what you have a sickness. It’s nothing more than the sickness of your mind and manners we’re talking about.’

‘Is it always like this?’ I asked.

‘I guess yes’, she answered before turning back towards the main door.

‘Are your parents out?’

‘Yes’, Margit said. ‘But don’t worry, it’s okay if you stay with us the whole day. Mommy always told me she would be glad to welcome you after all this time’.

Her parents were business man and woman who were working at offices nearby in the city, and sometimes in the capital, Kalthof. Cirla came down the stairs, with his nose red and his neck tied by a thick scarf.

‘Cirla, are you alright?’

‘Oh it’s nothing’, he said, waving away the pain with a gesture of his hand. ‘I just caught a cold recently’.

Margit laughed sarcastically. Her brother turned to her and rolled his eyes.

‘Anyway’, Margit said, ‘come with us’.

Their room always impressed me. It was not their sleeping room, but the one they spent most of their time in; and, what’s uncommon among brothers and sisters: they spent it together.

‘Please sit down’, said Cirla.

The desk was still at the same place, on the right; it was a table with drawers, and multiple chairs around it. Brother and sister used to study at this place, write their essays and read their needed documents.

‘Now tell him’ Cirla asked.

‘Fine’, answered his sister. ‘Here is how we came to this: as you know, Cirla and I pursued our studies after elementary school. In addition to that, I chose to follow a famous dancing class in Archades, because they say the girls are cool, and because… uh…’

‘And because she’s fat’, Cirla shortened.

‘You’re neither perfectly done, brother’, Margit exploded, an angry eye scanning her brother from head to toe. ‘Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to help me stay fit. It is a one-day class, during which we get to know each other and train to dance with the coach. Archadia does that in many fields to get people from all Ivalice discover its knowledge and… and…’

‘And spend their money’, added Cirla. ‘You should be ashamed of wasting our parents’ money in such a thing! This course is awfully expensive! ’

‘What if I like it, huh? What if it’s something that actually helps me in my everyday life? I’m not stopping you for doing the things _you_ like, like playing sport with those mischievous guys from the village!’

Margit briefly turned towards me.

‘Not you, Noah. Well, all this is to explain to you the wonderful meeting I made. A girl from my course told me she was also attending law lessons. I began to ask her about the subject, because I found this area interesting – it deals with history, economics, society issues, and sometimes even science and magic. But of course, for me it was banned, because I was not Archadian. But guess what she said! The course was open for everyone, and it was also once a month!’

‘Of course’, Cirla explained, ‘it’s not enough to have strong skills in law – which requires being enrolled in one of the prestigious Archadian Imperial Ackademies, which we cannot afford – but at least it could help us discover the subject.’

‘Yes, that’s interesting’, I commented.

‘So all over the past year’, Cirla continued, ‘we kept going to Archades once a month – well, twice for the fattie – and learnt many things. The course is made for those who can go only this often, so the amount of books and subjects we discuss is absolutely huge. But it’s nonetheless a wonderful source of knowledge for us – with only one day of class, we have enough notes to do our own research at the Waldgott library, which we…’

‘Kinda re-discover’, said Margit, her face illuminated with excitement.

‘Of course’, I said. ‘There are so many books you haven’t looked at, at the time, and now they must appear in front of you all of a sudden’.

Cirla nodded.

‘So we kinda make our own essays about the themes seen in class, with the help of these books, and the things we noticed in town – some arrests, audiences, nominations, etc. The result is…’

‘Well, we haven’t dared to ask our teacher if our dirty drafts made sense, but just the amount of pages we wrote can give you an idea about how convinced we were!’

And after saying these words, Margit opened the upper drawer. I tried to look closer but my first impression seemed… real: I could see only white. I tried to take one paper but noticed there were dozens; hundreds of similar sheets! All filled with a little, clumsy handwriting.

‘This is Margit’s part’, Cirla proudly said. ‘Because, naturally, we always have opposed ideas concerning most of the subjects! So every time, each one of us makes their own essay. My stuff is on the lower drawer.’

I pulled it and saw a similar amount of papers.

‘It’s better written, right?’ he boasted.

The handwriting was indeed more delicate and readable than that of his sister, but the idea of saying it out loud didn’t actually cross my mind. Margit pulled out her tongue.

‘So this is what we’ve been doing’, she concluded. ‘Many times a week, we spend our evenings debating this or that law subject in this room. I must admit it’s really convenient when the parents are near…’

‘Yeah, they must think we’re so serious!’ Cirla laughed.

‘Oh, surely then they forget when you go rolling yourself in the mud with the likes of Basch’, Margit ironically added.

I joined Cirla in laughing. They were still certainly the two most serious persons I knew.

‘Oh…’ he seemed to try to defend himself, then to give up. ‘I nonetheless must go see this crazy lad at Uwiel again. I’ve begun to miss him’.

Uwiel was the short name of my village, Uwielbinie. I smiled. It always made my heart warmer to know people cared about my brother.

‘So’, I asked, ‘are these courses about Landis law or the Archadian laws?’

‘Good question’, Cirla said. ‘For now, it’s not perfectly clear. We’re still talking about general matters, like why there has been the need for laws, the major categories, how they are created, and who has power over it. We have seen examples for Archadia but the class itself was not focused on the Empire.

‘Which makes it even more interesting’, Margit said with a cute smile.

‘So you’re almost teaching yourselves, aren’t you?’ I asked, afraid of the answer.

‘Totally!’ they both exclaimed.

‘It’s one very important side of this’, Margit added with a laugh. No more stupid school everyday – although we still have to go to regular high school many days of the month, urrrh! – We study at our own rhythm.’

‘Well, I admit it was a bit hard to convince our parents to follow this scheme of study’, Cirla said. ‘But it was totally worth it – the parents are glad and so are we.’

They had always seemed like the perfect family to me. All their joy left a bitter taste inside of me.

‘What’s wrong, Noah?’ Margit asked, putting her head right under mine.

‘Oh, nothing’, I said quickly, two steps behind.

‘We heard you’ve been working a lot at Uwiel. Last season’s weather was not as nice as you’ve expected, was it?’ Cirla said.

‘Yes… yes indeed. We’ve been working a lot on several farms. But I think the result is positive. My mother looks really relieved, compared to her severe mood of the past weeks.’

‘Oh, I’m glad! Your mom is a so nice lady!’ Margit exclaimed, her arms tied and her foot above ground.

‘Thanks Margit. You’re also so nice and so cute’, I said, to make her happy.

‘Oh please, don’t say this Noah. Everyone who’s been to Uwiel knows the girl you’re in love with is Naria.’

‘What?’

Margit’s elbow pushed her brother’s one.

‘Yes’, he joined in her folly, ‘even some boys here in Waldgott say so.’

‘That… that is not true!’

The two of them began to laugh.

‘Well…’ I said, ‘If I thought you were less beautiful I would be with her, not with you now.’

‘True, true’, Cirla said. ‘But at least you have to admit she’s very brave to have also worked in the farm’.

‘Of course!’ I exclaimed. ‘Nareszcie’s energy is absolutely incredible. She has helped us much, and not only on her father’s farm. Her experience and optimism have been very valuable to us. It’s clear that without her, things wouldn’t have been over so fast, even if it’s been months in reality…’

Brother and sister exchanged a wishful look.

‘So’, asked Margit, ‘is it really over?’

‘Haha!’ I laughed. ‘My mother hasn’t confirmed yet, but I can guess the hardest times are behind us now. We managed to gather a lot of products from the different farms and sales should be good. So I’ll have much free time, in comparison with the past years.

‘That’s good to hear!’ Cirla shouted, joining his hands.

‘Why? It’s nothing really special…’

What was this all about? Why were they both looking at me anyway?

‘Listen, Noah. We’ve been thinking about something.’

I was all ears.

‘We know’, Cirla began, ‘your mother can’t afford a course like the one we’re taking, nor even another one in Landis.’

‘So…’ Margit said.

So you’re trying to make me jealous. Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it.

‘So if you indeed have free time, we thought you could join us in our studies.’

I didn’t really understand what I just heard.

‘After each class, we could gather here at home, so we study together the themes of the class and do our research as a group. I’m sure your ideas will be even different from mine and Margit’s, so it’ll be all beneficial!’

‘I… I don’t know…’

‘We need you, Noah’, Margit smiled. ‘You may think we’re fine now but reality is we miss you. Missed the times when we could chat about anything at school and had our own jokes!’

‘Yeah’, Cirla said. ‘These were the good times.’

‘So, what do you say, Noah? Will you be joining us? It’ll not consist in studying only, of course. You’d have meals with us and share whatever fun may cross our boring lives. Can we count on you?’

M… Me? Joining Margit and Cirla’s studies to become lawyers or whatever they will become in their successful future?

‘Come on, Noah. We’d ask Basch, but you know, he isn’t really interested in anything related to books. Whereas you… you’re particularly keen on that, and we know you’d do better than us. What’s your point? Aren’t you our friend after all? And please, don’t ask about our parents or your mother, you know they would all agree.’

My mind was thinking something, but my tongue wanted to say something else. Now they were both gazing at me deeper than ever, and I just wanted to disappear.

‘What about the face, Noah?’ Margit laughed. ‘If you don’t understand our proposition, just accept and we’ll begin right now’.

‘Of course, we wouldn’t be able to master all it takes to be a true Archadian judge, like the mighty Judge Zecht, but we can nonetheless show you all our scribbles so you have an idea of what we studied last year.

‘Yes! Please say yes, Noah!’ Margit exclaimed.

‘Alright. But I’m not better than you, and…’

Margit seemed curious.’

‘And I want you to show me how you dance now’, I said with a grin.

‘What?’

Cirla and I exploded in laughs.

‘Oh no, no, not at all! I’m not ready yet!’ Little Margit was jumping all over the room.

Afterwards, Cirla invited me to sit in front of the desk and began to read a book’s summary. We spent the following hours writing down on papers what each term evoked to us, and imagine audiences where these subjects would be involved. I felt like my ideas were worthless, because I still had no information about this domain, so I would not say them out loud. Instead, I would say ‘yes indeed’ or ‘that’s exactly what I was thinking’ when Cirla or Margit – it depended on the subject – would… express exactly what I had been thinking. And it – unexpectedly – happened a lot. At the end of the day, I said goodbye with my head full of delight, hopes, and undetermined feelings.

As soon as the cart reached Uwiel, I began running towards my dear house.

‘Mom! Mom!’

‘Hey! Boy! My pay!’

‘Mom! Where are you?’

She was behind the house, watering the flowers.

‘What is it, Noah?’

‘Can I… Is it possible to use one of the upper empty shelves of the living room’s bookcase? I would like to borrow books from the Waldgott library.’

My mother seemed surprised. A neighbour appeared from behind the bushes and both women warmly greeted each other.

‘Of course, my son’, she said after that. ‘That’s a good idea, especially since work will be much lighter as of now. It will certainly help you change your mood!’

I sighed out of relief.

‘Yes, and I can also sell the goods while on a journey to the city. Because… err… Cirla and Margit invited me to study law lessons together.’

My mother’s eyes rolled in amazement.

‘Is that so? It’s very good news! I’m sure you and your friends will gather enough knowledge to rival the most skilled scholars in Ivalice!’

She was obviously glad, but immediately I sensed something wrong, as she took my hand to enter the house.

‘What’s wrong, Mom?’

She sat in the kitchen chair, visibly exhausted.

‘Did you do anything special? Tell me!’

‘It’s not me’, she finally said in a low tone. ‘It’s Basch. I don’t know where he is.’

‘Has he been the whole day out?! Let me bring him back home!’

‘Please don’t go out of the village! You have to promise!’ she screamed.

I nodded while moving across the entrance of the house, when my feet trampled others.

‘It’s me’.

My brother didn’t seem any happier than my mother. What was going on?

‘Basch!’

Mom jumped out of the chair and hurried to hug him.

‘It’s alright, Mom.’

‘Oh, Basch! For a moment I thought you went…’

‘I was playing in the village, with Naria and the others. You can ask Olszewski if you don’t believe me.’

Mom held back her breath, then walked back to sit again. I thought Basch would understand that she was out of nerves, that she gave all the worrying she could that day. I really did. But instead, he took a deep breath and announced:

‘Mom, I have made a decision. I will join Father in the camp. I don’t miss him to the extent of seeing him alone; I can’t forget what he has done to you. I can’t forgive him for forsaking us. But I have to meet him while he’s still alive. I want to know how he lives and try that life for myself.’

‘But, Basch!’ my mother objected.

‘I know I’m not a soldier, I won’t join the army. But I’ve grown up, I’m twelve years old now and I can choose a training that matches my ambitions. And my ambition is to be a warrior, like Father. But unlike him, I will not forget you. If they don’t want me to join in their training, I’ll do some other sort of training, that corresponds my current strength and abilities, so you don’t have to worry about me. Even if you don’t trust Father’.

Mom gasped.

‘I… On the contrary, I have all faith in your father. One thing I am sure about, is that he will never let you get harmed. That is all I need to know.’

‘So it’s settled’, Basch concluded. ‘I’m going to pack my things and be prepared to leave tomorrow morning. I’ll stay in the camp during the time Father’s team is in it. I’ll write to you often; I hope you will take care of yourself, brother.’

I could not say anything.


	5. Part I: Childhood's End - The harvest

 

Education… Social security… Disability…

‘Noah?’

‘Agriculture… Corporation… Franchise…’

‘Noah!’

‘Animals… Natural resources… Family… Intellectual prop…’

‘Oh, Noah. You’re still living into this book’.

Mom stood in front of me, in the living room. I was reading the first book I borrowed from Waldgott: _General Law Categorization. Supreme Court of the Republic of Landis_.

‘Yes’, I answered with a smile. ‘I try to remember the main categories that matter in the law of Landis, of Archadia, or any other nation.’

‘Why this sudden interest in law anyway?’ said my mother with a sarcastic grin. ‘I’d never thought you could be passionate about _this_ kind of books.’

Mom was right. I neither ever thought this type of studies could ever catch my attention. But reality was, as soon as Cirla and Margit went to another law class, the time we spent together, analyzing the documents and fighting to select the most relevant books at the library, were the most relieving I had ever had at this step of my life. I felt I had friends; friends that could help me carry on, and bring out the best of me on a topic, which was hardly the case the few weeks before. The change was immense, because it was broad and sudden at the same time. I went from something close to desperate, to something close to self-confidence. I said close.

‘Now, why haven’t you tidied up your room?’

What was this again?

‘Mom…? I’m sorry to say so, but I think I just made my bed and folded my clothes.’

Mom let herself fall into the armchair. Her voice was suddenly calm.

‘I know. I just miss having to make my son’s bed myself.’

‘M… mine?’

I used my brain a couple of seconds, and then rebuilt my mother’s reasoning.

‘You mean Basch…’

She had always seemed cheerful since his departure. I had not thought she was careless, but rather she had all faith in my father and therefore was happy to know Basch in a safe situation, doing what he wanted to.

‘I miss him too, Mom’.

She turned to me and smiled.

‘I’m not much worried about him. It’s just a matter of time before he gets back anyway. They say the troop’s training near the village is almost over.’

‘That’s good news’.

I tried to turn my book’s page after that, but she stopped me at once:

‘I didn’t allow you to keep on reading!’

‘But, Mom…’

‘You have to go to the Olszewski farm.’

‘Now?’

‘Yes. I have entrusted the leader of the workers with a mission for Naria and yourself. The harvest season has been positive, don’t you think?’

‘Err… If you say so…’

I knew how to work in the farm but didn’t have enough experience to tell if this season had been better than any other.

‘There’, she continued, ‘you will find the last of the boxes you will have to carry. It’s the fruit of a collective work, so handle them carefully! Because this time, it is not I who will be selling in Waldgott.’

‘Mom!’

This surprised me a lot. Linda Gabranth had always been famous for parading in the streets of Waldgott and Kalthof, asking for curiosity to taste her products. This is how she made her first contacts in Landis. To imagine this year without this scene seemed absolutely devoid of sense!

‘I insist, my son. It’s time to learn how to make a living. And how to talk to people. The latter will be the most difficult, but I’m relying on the courageous Nareszcie for that matter.’

‘I don’t know if Naria will do that in a serious manner’, I tried to escape.

‘What is perfect in this job’, Mom replied, ‘is that you don’t have to be serious to succeed. On the contrary, being astray might lead you to an expected result.’

Oh, why did it have to be me…

‘When you’re done – don’t stay late at night, even if you couldn’t sell everything – you can stay at Waldgott and go to your friends’ house. I doubt their parents will have any objection against you spending the night in their dwelling until tomorrow morning. Didn’t you say yourself that could be a plan?’

Now that was worth it!

‘Thanks Mom’, I said before rushing outside.

I ran the portion of the forest separating me from the farm in one go. As soon as I arrived, I saw Naria waiting with strange patience at the doors of the property.

`Welcome!’ she greeted, waving her arms as I got close to her. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Yes I am!’

‘Then let’s go see my father’.

I was always afraid to know I would meet the surly Olszewski, but this time I had no choice. Mom chose us to sell the farm products and I guess talking to the farmer was part of the process. Naria began to scamper before sitting on the small fence and greeted the man who was coming our way.

‘Hi Sydor! Where is Father?’

I believe that was the workers’ leader. I had already seen him before; you couldn’t miss him with his large straw hat, his brown overalls and his friendly smile.

‘Good morning, miss Nareszcie. I am afraid your father is not in the property anymore.’

Naria’s eyes turned into white balls.

`What? What do you mean?’

‘Do not panick, Miss. He just went to town to meet a doctor in the hospital. He woke up with a malaise.’

A brief silence took place. Naria’s feet were swinging left and right.

‘Oh… Really?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t know about it. Do you know what kind of sickness he has?’

‘No I don’t, I’m sorry, Miss. But I do believe he is not so bad; he promised to return during the day.’

She immediately regained her smile.

‘Thanks, Sydor. So I’ll just go to Waldgott with Noah. What should we do?’

And then he brought us to the hangar, where an incredible amount of fruits, vegetables, cloth, wool, and cheese was stored. Next to the piles of goods, the rest of the team was enthusiastically forming a chain to pass the products on until they were put in boxes. Most of the wooden boxes were already filled.

‘We will take care of the animals…’ concluded Sydor. ‘They may cause you unwanted trouble if you’re only two’.

‘Wow!’ Naria was jumping all over the driveway. ‘So this is all for us? I mean, only Noah and I will be in charge of this all? I’ll really be selling all of this?’

‘Yes’, Sydor smiled. ‘Mrs Fon Ronsenburg and the boss decided so. Well, I _suppose_ the boss is aware.’

Naria burst into laughter and took my hand. In a short time, we memorized all types of products we had and drawn a map of the strategic streets where we would be selling.’

‘You will set up your stall here, here, and there. One will be haranguing the crowd while the other watches over the boxes. Don’t forget it’s a fair quantity of goods you have here! Unfortunately, Landis is not free from thieves. And finally, here are the scales and the bags where you will be able to serve your customers what they choose.’

We listened to Sydor carefully. Everything was clear now. We were ready to go. But when I dared to look at the girl, the gaze we exchanged showed me I was the only one to think it was clear.

‘Well, we can sell the scales too? That’s a good proposal. If a scornful woman refuses to take Gysahl greens, we’re just gonna give this to her and she’ll accept.’

‘Careful, Miss Nareszcie! That’s not exactly what…’

But Sydor was talking in vain; Naria had already run to the other side of the driveway and was making big gestures to make me join her.

‘Hum, don’t worry, Sydor. I think I can show her the right way.’

Sydor, for a moment, looked like he showed no care of what I had just said at all, then suddenly smiled at me and walked behind Naria.

‘Before you go, you should ask me how to carry all these boxes’.

‘How to carry?’ Naria asked with surprise. ‘That’s easy! Noah is the man, so all you have to do is attach the things to his waist and here we go. Noah is so strong he can also carry me, sitting above the boxes!’

Sydor laughed joyfully before bringing her back to reason.

‘Noah is a good boy. It’s been a while since I saw a child putting so much effort at farm work’, he declared while tousling my hair. ‘But he is no beast! Unfortunately, we cannot rely on his back to bear all this weight – unless we want it to break. Look, instead!’

His finger was pointing to the outside. We heard a continuous noise coming from there, like something slowly rolling on the rubble, before I recognized… the cart I already went with to Waldgott.

‘Ho! Ho! If it isn’t our hasty little boy! This time you won’t be able to avoid your debt.’

‘What do you mean, ‘your debt’? Noah is not guilty! He has done nothing wrong, and he always pays; he’s not a burglar like you. If you don’t believe us, just wait until we reach town and you’ll see how much money we’ll bring!’

‘Well, well’, Sydor said with an uneasy face. ‘These two are indeed the guarantors of the majority of this year’s turnover here in the farms. I’m counting on you to drive them safely to the Waldgott market, and bring them back here before sunset.’

‘Heh!’ winced the man. ‘We’ll see this. Come on, kids! Help me lift those boxes.’

All our team joined hands to prepare the wares for the ride. After a short time, we were done.

‘I… I’m counting on you, guys!’ Sydor said, all sweating with exhaustion.

We waved him goodbye and sat above the boxes. Sydor walked behind, but as we expected the cart to move forward, nothing happened.

‘Eh! Seems this weight is too much for my old chocobo!’ the driver said with embarrassment.

How were we going to do this? Pushing a poor animal beyond its limits was out of the question. Naria didn’t seem to worry as she jumped out.

‘Book! Book, where are you?’

‘Book?’

I think there’s definitely something I don’t understand. But as soon as I began thinking, a lightning fast chocobo appeared.

‘Book! You heard me!’

All smiling, she tied it to the cart and climbed back up. The two chocobos looked at each other and seemed like… they weren’t exactly ready for a friendly relationship.

‘Book is the name of my chocobo.’ Naria explained as we began moving. ‘I didn’t study much more than write-and-read. And I don’t actually know how to write and read properly. So I never had books. One day I dreamt of my mother telling me I would have some. So I decided that this chocobo would be my book! This way, I have books.’

She left me somehow… speechless.

‘What do you think?’ she asked cheerfully.

‘That’s certainly a way to have books. At least, this one seems to have enough energy to bring us to town.’

Naria turned back and waved at the trees we were passing.

‘Yeeha! Goodbye Uwiel! Goodbye Book! Goodbye Father!’

‘Your chocobo is behind you and your father is certainly somewhere in the city we’re going to’, I reminded her.

‘Oh, you’re right’.

She looked sad. Was she worrying about her father? He sure was a scornful man, but he was her father nonetheless, with the concern of protecting her and showing her how to make a living.

‘Here you are, kids.’

The man helped us putting the boxes down, and at the moment we were going to leave him, he grabbed my collar.

‘Don’t ever think you can escape me once again, kid.’

‘I… I won’t escape this time. We are going to earn enough money to pay you.’

He shrugged his shoulders and turned back.

‘And take care of my chocobo!’ Naria shouted until my ears seemed torn apart.

‘Not this loud, Naria!’ I scolded her. ‘You’re not supposed to scream apart from advertising the products.’

‘Nice, shall we begin? WELCOME TO…’

I tightly put my hand on her mouth. With my other hand, I showed her the boxes, then the waste ground reserved for market stalls. She tried to flee, waving her arms in all directions, before understanding what I was saying and nodding in a – what I thought was a – calm way.

‘Okay’, she said, ‘so we carry this to that nearby place. But what about the other places we’re supposed to go to? Are we going to carry what two chocobos carried all around the city?’

‘According to what I understood, this location is the most central and frequented of Waldgott. Here is where we’re expected to sell the majority of our goods. When we’re finished with this area, we should have less than half of what we see now.’

‘Oh, you’re so clever, Noah. Let’s go!’

We carried the boxes to our selling ground, and arranged it with a few branches and a tarpaulin to cover us from the sun.

‘Now we’re ready, right?’

‘Yes, we are’, I answered as I was checking the map.

‘Aaaaaalright. WELCOME TO THE RONSENBURG-OLSZEWSKI MARKET! Here you can find all sorts of wool to knit shirts to your children – or give to your grandmothers! You can find fruits! You can find vegetables! Of course, these two are made to eat! Oh, and the eggs! Come taste our delicious dried fruits! They make excellent snacks! And don’t forget the milk and the herbs, to make awesome drinks!’

It was perfect. Yes, my cotton earplugs were working perfectly.

‘Noah. NOAH! You’re not listening to me, are you?’

I removed one of the plugs.

‘Yes?’

‘Look at this man, standing there! Don’t you think he’s hesitating to buy something from us? Go convince him! And don’t deceive me.’

‘But…’

‘I’ll stay here! This stall needs a strong woman to take care of it!’

I sighed and went to see the man. He was a tall thin man who could be the age of my father. He didn’t seem scary but I had no words. He looked at me and, ill-at-ease, began to move away. I looked back and saw Naria’s face boiling with anger; her eyes moved very quickly towards and away from the man. I swallowed and ran to him.

‘Err… We’re selling… all sorts of goods… Sir.’

‘Oh, you’re selling things with the girl?’ he said, with surprise in his voice. ‘I was just looking for cheese. But since you’re not selling diary, I’ll have to go elsewhere’.

‘No, Sir…’

I didn’t know what to say next, but my hands were holding the man’s arm without me commanding them. Suddenly annoyed, he removed my hands by force, hitting my cheek in the process. I bowed… and saw the other earplug jump to the ground.

‘Look!’ Naria was screaming, waving her arms to us.

‘We… We _have_ cheese, Sir.’

Astonished, he blinked, before finally accepting to follow me. Naria welcomed him with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen – I could barely distinguish her eyes.

‘Look!’ she repeated. ‘We have cheese from various livestock. Which one is to your liking, Sir?’

The customer hesitated, then asked: ‘Can I taste?’

‘Of course!’

Nareszcie cut a cheese part with her bare hands. I don’t know if that was a good idea…

‘Hmm…’

I began to shiver as the man’s face became contorted.

‘This…’

‘Yes?’ Naria gently asked.

I preferred to close my eyes. What’d follow could be scary…

‘This is the best cheese I’ve tasted in years!’

After several seconds, I opened my eyes. It was not a dream: the customer looked delighted.

‘Hi Plommon! How are you? Come here; these children don’t know nothin’ about business, but they sure have fine cheese!’

Another man came to greet the first one and began to smell our cheese.

‘This one has been made in my mom’s farm, hasn’t it?’ I whispered in Naria’s ears.

‘Shhht’, she said. ‘Well, what do you think? Buy it?’ she said in a higher tone.

‘No… Not like this, Naria!’

But the men didn’t say anything against it. They looked at each other, nodded, and then:

‘Buy it!’

Naria made that smile that always made me laugh.

‘A hundred gil the kilogram; not cancellable, not negotiable.’

‘That’s much!’

‘That’s not what the peasants usually offer.’

‘I’m sorry’, she said, and then put her hands on her face, shaking her hand in – apparent – extreme despair. ‘I have to gather money for my father! He’s in the Waldgott hospital right now. He has a serious disease that will affect him for the rest of his life!’

The two men looked at each other once again.

‘Fine. We’ll take one kilogram each’, said the first one. ‘Here is two hundred gil. Take care of it, kids! Come on, Plommon, this is a favor I’m doing you. I can pay for us both, it’s alright. Goodbye!’

As soon as these customers went off, others arrived, intrigued by our conversation.

‘To hell the old man and his disease. Noah, we’re going to be rich. I’m counting on you!’

Out of shock, I distanced myself from her and put some cheese in the presentation box to replace the ones sold.

‘Naria, you wicked little d…’

‘Hello. I’m also looking for cheese’.

I lowered my head and saw a little brown-haired boy, all smiling.

‘Y… yes, sure. What do you need?’

‘I think it’s half a kilogram. Do you have meat? My mom asked me to bring this.’

Naria took the initiative to answer, with a tough voice:

‘We were supposed to bring it as well but the suppliers stripped it from us! What else do you need?’

I decided to suggest.

‘Do you need fruits? Look at these.’

The boy looked at the fruit boxes and his eyes began to glow.

‘Woow… But, do I have enough money to buy this?’

I looked at the palm of his hand, then at the price note Sydor gave us.

‘Yes’, I said. ‘You have sixty gil. You can take the cheese and two of these.’

‘Great!’ the boy laughed, jumping all around the ground. ‘With these, we can make a fine delicious dessert! Thank you!’

‘All the customers aren’t as polite as him’, Naria warned. ‘Be careful.’

I nodded while observing the state of all our boxes. They were still at their place. Immediately after, other people began to ask about our products. Naria ran to help them, but I was not left aside: they were too many for one person.

At each sale, Naria was shouting: ‘WHAT IS THE PRICE?’ while holding the corresponding product above the customers’ heads. I tried to tell her to ask more discreetly, but she did not obey. I also had to work out the total, for she was often wrong in mental arithmetic.

‘Well’, I heard her talking to a fat woman, ‘if you have so much money, you can take the scales’.

‘No! No, Naria! We need the scales to weigh the vegetables!’

And I had to take them out of her hands, leaving her in utter surprise.

‘But… This woman is rich…’

I was about to tear out my own hair.

‘You have to suggest other products! You can’t just act like that!’ I tried to whisper and make her hear my sentence at the same time – which was not compatible.

After some time, we realized our cash was growing as hours were passing by. Mom was going to be so happy! There were also whole sellers who took entire boxes from us. They picked up wool, cotton, and most of the vegetables. So, at the end of the period, we were indeed free of more than half of our initial cargo. As customers outnumbered our eyes’ ability, I managed to sense something strange in the egg corner.

‘Hey! You!’

Naria, at my greatest surprise, also caught the teenager who was standing there, trying to steal a handful of eggs. She slapped him and pushed him away from the stall. Many customers had their smiles turned into expressions of terror.

‘Why this behavior, Naria?’

Suddenly, her face was not greedy anymore. Nor was it fake. It was… different.

‘My mother always told me to never trust people who commit acts like these.’

‘It doesn’t mean you have to hit them!’

‘She didn’t tell me to hit people, but rather that she’ll hit me if she ever catches _me_ doing this.’

I lowered my look and preferred to return to stall updating.

‘It… I… This isn’t what you’re thinking it is! I was just weighing them!’ the kid said before running for his life, away from the market.

As I was helping a woman asking for herbs, my eyes rose up to the Waldgott tower, which was hosting a big sundial that just rang.

‘It’s time…’

The customer also turned her head towards the clock and smiled. The day was passing by quickly but nature seemed to take time to make things change. It was like a deep breath, hearing the mild winds tickling my cheeks and playing with Naria’s hair. All around the selling ground, groups of families, colleagues, friends, and persons alone were crossing the paths between the different stalls with reassured faces and responsive gestures. Nothing could disrupt the smooth running of this peaceful afternoon.

‘Thank you!’

I closed the little bag where I had put the desired amount of herbs, counted the money and gave the customer her product with my thanks back. Then I began to remove the boxes from their selling place and put them aside.

‘Let’s move, Naria! The next spot is a few streets away’.

‘So soon? Buuuut… Let’s try first…’

‘No’, I interrupted. ‘We should move now before we don’t have time to try the other places and miss important customers’.

The rest of the afternoon showed us less mercy than the central place, but after a few changes we managed to sell a big part of our goods. However, a very important product had had almost no success yet: the wool.

‘Do you know why no one picks these up?’ I asked Naria, with a bitter thought of ending the day without making Mom proud.

She shrugged before guessing:

‘Maybe they prefer that coming from the strange rabbits in those Dalmascan deserts? I once heard women saying they only buy that imported type.’

Was that so? Well. I realized I did not only want to make my mother proud. I wanted to make her _impressed_.

‘Vegetables! Fruits! Meat! Buy everything you like here, it’s coming directly from our farms! Fresh dairy! Fresh meat!’

 ‘Naria’, I said. ‘We don’t sell meat’.

‘Oh, right.’

She pulled her sleeves up and screamed:

‘We sell everything except meat! So if you’d like meat, don’t come to us!’

I rushed to make her keep quiet, but as my hand was about to slap her mouth, a customer appeared just in front of the wool boxes.

‘How much is that?’ she said.

‘Err… Just five hundred gil the kilogram.’

I finished to cover her lips and added:

‘Not exactly. You can have this ball here for fifty.’

The woman frowned and left the stall without a word. Out of surprise, I loosened my grasp and Naria could remove my fingers with an angry mutter:

‘This is your fault, Noah! You should always say the highest price to the customer!’

‘No, Naria. It’s the contrary. We have to make them feel comfortable and act as if they were going to spend the littlest amount of money possible. Our stall is not the only place they’re going to shop, you know.’

‘I don’t agree!’ she shouted. But, as soon as she said these words, she stepped back to sit on an empty box and added in a sigh: ‘But I will let you keep your method. Father said you’re a little brat but I should trust you.’

I blinked and went back to Sydor’s notice.

‘I will also trust you for price calculation. You know I never made it as far as sorting out a simple operation, by the short time I was going to school.’

I put a hand on her shoulder and answered:

‘Don’t worry. We will sort this out together. We will not go home until we’ve sold a lot more of what we have left.’

I added in the form of a thought, for my mother: until we’ve sold **all** we have left.

While I was calculating the earnings we’ve made so far, Naria regained her innate joy and was cheerfully serving a couple, who went away with the last food remaining in the boxes. Immediately after waving them goodbye, she ran back to hug me and granted me with her seller’s smile:

‘Great! Fantastic! Now it’s only the wool left!’

I pushed her forward and finished calculating. If we could earn some more thousand gil, it would be perfect, but to do so, we had to make each fifty gil wool ball go away. And the fact that customers were less and less frequent, and systematically not willing to buy the wool for fifty gil, was not helpful at all to achieve it. Every time they approached the goods, they were pulling faces, exchanging severe words with each other and turning back. What was the problem? Was it the quality? Was it the price?

‘It seems that all the people here find the price too high’, Naria settled.

‘So we’ve got to find out a way to make these sell. Let me try something.’

‘What will you try? What will you try?’ she asked, hopping all around the place.

‘Shht. Let me concentrate.’

She made her teasing grin and obeyed. If we succeeded to bring some more gil, even if it wasn’t the expected amount – ten thousand –, it would be better than coming back with nothing. How could we manage to do this? A desirable amount would be six to seven thousand – then today’s turnover would be fifty thousand, which was fairly enough to make Mom happy. If the other team managed to bring back another fifty thousand, then, as Naria gladly said previously: we’d be rich.

‘That’s too expensive.’

‘That’s not exactly what I expected.’

‘I can’t buy this for this amount.’

Calculating thousands is the hardest thing I learnt at elementary school, but I felt like succeeding in this task would be the key to our day’s hassle. Ten thousand. Four boxes. Fifty balls. So… If we wanted the current price of a box… Twenty-five… Two hundred and fifty… Two… Yes. Two thousands and five hundreds.

‘What did you find, Noah?’

This price was, by all views, too much. What if we lowered it? But even if we did so, how were the customers going to know it’s lower? Should I have to bring back the new price to a single ball’s scale?

‘Noah’, Naria warned. ‘We have to go. Look: it’s the time Sydor asked us to stop selling. The other stalls have all closed. Too bad for the wool, but…’

‘Do we have something to write on?’

Not paying attention to her words, I found a small wooden sign in an empty box. I quickly bent over to grab it and wrote:

**_1 500 G_ **

As I was coming back to my place, and about to utter some understandable explanation for Naria, a tall man with a red woolen cap stopped to our goods.

‘That’s a fair price.’

He picked a white wool ball and sensed its texture between two fingers.

‘That’s some high-quality one. The other guys down there were selling some for a thousand but it certainly wasn’t as refined as what I see here. What’s the name of the farm you’re working for, kids?’

‘The Olszewski farm!’ Naria exclaimed, with even more joy than what I was beginning to feel.

‘And the Ronsenburg farm! We also have flocks!’ I added, not to forget my dear mother’s work.

The man, looking at us both, seemed confused, but kept smiling anyway.

‘I never heard about these ones. This is a long-experience top-skilled job. You can be proud of the persons who worked on this. A thousand and half is definitely a price I’m going for. Can I take all of them?’

Naria and I exchanged amazed looks. He? Take them all?

‘I’m a whole seller. I need much wool to be able to sell it, in my turn, to other shops.’

‘Huh… Then you can certainly take all of them, sir!’ guessed the playful little girl.

‘How much is it in total?’ the customer asked.

‘Six thousand gil, sir!’ I answered, as I was gladly handing over the bags I just filled.

After he went away, the clock rang the end of our sales day, and we joined hands, jumping and screaming together.

‘We did it! We did it!’

‘I told you we were going to win!’

‘Don’t take the glory all for yourself! _I_ was the one who insisted!’

‘Yeah, but _I_ told you we would be rich!’

Our eyes stopped at the wooden box where we stored our income. All that much gil… Just for us… For our families and the farms…

‘I’m so happy’, I conclude. ‘Let’s arrange these empty boxes before the driver comes back. He’ll be right here in a few minutes.’

‘Sure!’ she jumped out.

After a quarter of tidying up, we sat above the material – our light weights would do no damage to it – and raised our eyes to the fading sky, with a cautious look at the money every now and then.

‘So we’ll go back home…’ Naria murmured.

‘Not exactly’, I remembered. ‘Well…’

I lowered my head, looking for the right words.

‘What’s wrong? You seem worried, Noah. Don’t ever feel like that in front of me – I already told you. Are you keeping a secret?’

‘Not really’, I decided. ‘I just wish to go to the Drimer house, now that the sale is over.’

‘To the Drimers?’ she exclaimed, in a shock. ‘To the rich guys?’

‘They…’ I sighed. ‘My friends there are going to a special law class in Archades and they promised to share their knowledge with me every time I have the opportunity to drop in briefly on them.’

Naria’s eyes became big shiny plates.

‘Wh… What?’ she said. ‘Is that a bad joke?’

‘No’, I said. ‘I am actually studying with them. I often read law books at home, since a few weeks.’

‘But… But…’

Naria was my new friend, and we get along pretty well, but I still had no idea about her temper fluctuations, for instance jealousy. I prepared myself to put my hands over my ears.

‘But that’s wonderful! That’s the best news I’ve heard in ages!’

‘I thought the best news was the fifty thousand gil we earned today.’

‘But you will… What? Did we actually earn fifty thousand gil today??’

‘Yes.’

Then she began to dance in front of everyone, just like she did during the feast.

‘I’m… I think I’m more happy than you, Noah!’

 I smiled.

‘So I must leave now. Cirla and Margit may not be allowed to welcome friends after nightfall.’

‘We… Wait! You’re not going anywhere!’ she said, suddenly stopping her happiness dance. ‘How did you convince them to share their studies?’

‘I did not convince anyone. They are actually the ones who insisted to invite me to join them. I tried a first session with them, and I enjoyed it; so I think I’ll go as often as possible, to learn more.’

‘So… So you’re a law student now, aren’t you?’

‘Err… I wouldn’t call myself so.’

‘But you are! You’re going to be someone so important in the future! I’m so glad you accepted, Noah – you would have had my slap on the cheek if you didn’t. Go, my dear, and take as much knowledge as you can. Don’t ever be shy. Steal their papers! Maybe they contain secrets about Landis, or even Archadia. Maybe you can sell them for millions!’

‘That’s not it’, I stopped her rambling. ‘They’re just children like you and me.’

‘Oh…’ she realized, sitting again.

From behind, I recognized the driver’s silhouette. I jumped aside:

‘You can go with him, Naria. Please keep a very close eye on the money! Never lose sight of it!’

‘You can count on me! But… Where is Book?’

‘I tried as hard as I could to make the chocobo join the cart again, but the wicked beast refused to move. However, it seems the things to carry are far less heavy now.’

I let them load the cart and waved goodbye. Cirla’s house had to be just a few streets away…

‘Hey! What are you doing here?’

I stumbled upon a tall body that did not match the very familiar voice I just recognized.

‘If it isn’t Little Ronsenburg! I thought you and your brother would never set foot to the city again!’

I raised my look and saw an egg-shaped face surrounded by straight dark-brown hair. The chin also had a few pieces of hair and the eyes were blinking at me.

‘Hello Cirla. I was coming to visit.’

‘To visit? Are you serious? Ever since we heard your brother came to train with the army, we thought you’d never come back here at all.’

‘Why? Are you against the army?’

‘No no no no no!’ Cirla waved his arms while shaking his head. ‘You’re far away from the truth. Let’s not stay here in the street: the garden is just behind us.’

We sat on some decorating rocks in the little garden his parents had arranged, to add a cultural dimension to the friendly family house entrance.

‘MARGIIIT!’ he shouted, then turned to me. ‘She’ll come down in a few minutes. But tell me: what happened in the head of Basch? Did he lose his mind?’

‘I don’t know. But I don’t think he’s mad. He was just curious about how our father fights alongside the officers and the comrades, just like I am curious about how we judge people and we determine their rights.’

‘Oh, is that so? I’m reassured’, Cirla sighed. ‘I really thought he was going far away from the region and was joining some serious battlefield where he could lose his life.’

‘Don’t worry’, I told him. ‘It’s just a training. He’ll come back to us as soon as Father’s troop leaves the Uwielbinie zone.’

He smiled and held a candy bag out to me.

‘Thank you.’

‘Margit always hides food in the garden. The day I discovered it, I said I wouldn’t tell the parents only if she agreed to share with me.’

He seemed so proud of his cruelness. I could never act the same with Basch, even though life with him often turned into nightmares!

‘Hello! What are you saying about me?’

Little Margit sat down on the grass in front of us, as we just had put the candy into mouth.

‘Nuffin’, her brother said.

‘Is that so?’ she cursed. ‘Then you certainly wouldn’t mind if we talked about _you_ instead.’

‘Wha me?’

‘Dear Noah, you certainly must be aware of the big news?’

‘Uh… No, I am afraid. As you may guess, I hadn’t been around since a whole month.’

‘Then let me tell you – even if that’s so important people in Uwiel must be already aware – this little lad you see is in love.’

‘In love?’ I repeated.

As soon as his sister had made her little revenge, he lowered his head and put it on his palms, with a miserable look. As far as I remembered, the Cirla I knew would have laughed, answered Margit and had some teasing attitude. This was totally unexpected.

‘What’s wrong, Cirla?’

‘What’s wrong?’ Margit answered in his place. ‘Normally, his feelings would be totally okay. But just as his ill luck would have it, the girl we’re talking about – who’s in the law class – is an Archadian.’

I kept silent as I still did not understand what was wrong.

‘You know I don’t choose, sister’, Cirla sternly said.

‘Yeah, but you put us in a very messy situation.’

‘Why?’ I intervened. ‘If he loves an Archadian girl, or a Rozarrian one, or whatever she may be, it’s a human feeling. It shouldn’t cause any problem. You know my mother is an Archadian.’

‘No, that _will_ cause problems!’ both said at the same time.

‘Well…’ Cirla added. ‘I have been pretty much jealous of how your parents got to be together. I think you’re aware that’s not a normal situation.’

‘I am jealous too!’ Margit exclaimed. ‘Your family is so cute!’

‘But that’s totally normal’, I insisted. ‘They loved each other so… err… they decided to spend the rest of their lives together.’

‘But at what price?’ Cirla asked with a sudden vigor. ‘Did you ever hear Auntie Linda met her Archadian family, or received a letter from them?’

Once again, it took me several seconds to understand what they were talking about. I thought… I had begun to understand – but did not want to.

‘No, she never did’, I admitted.

‘That’s the problem’, Cirla continued. ‘There has always been some tension between Landis and the Empire – at least since I was born. Some even say they are planning to declare war against us.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ I shouted. ‘That will never happen!’

‘To be honest, I neither think so’, he said. ‘But the rumors still persist. And they so perfectly coincide with the moment my heart…’

And he let out a man-in-love’s sigh.

‘That’s strange’, I said. ‘I always thought Mom’s family cut contact with her because they didn’t appreciate Father on a personal point of view.’

‘Uh…’ Margit ventured. ‘There must be some truth in this as well – your father is a man who doesn’t think of visiting you while he’s just some paces away, after all. But there is certainly some story about his nationality: a Landisite. That’s certainly the real reason they considered Auntie unworthy of their noble status and denied her existence.’

I did not expect such trouble to invade my heart and instill doubt in my convictions.

‘I’m sorry if you didn’t know – but everyone who knows Archadia a little bit could have guessed. And if you’d allow me: it’s not a big loss’, Margit concluded. ‘Of course Cirla, I won’t tell Father or Mother about Doll, they would worry too much. But that’s if you show me what you have in your mouth.’

‘Me…! I don’t have anything!’

‘I know you too well. You must have hid it below your tongue… Don’t try to escape, you rascal! Well, I allow you to share my candies with Noah. But he’ll be the only exception, you hear!’

And then, she turned towards me with a face half-harsh, half-funny.

‘Thank you, Margit’, I said. And at this precise moment, we could hear a big hullabaloo coming from outside. The three of us rushed to the main door, and we found ourselves nose-to-nose with…

‘Hello guys! I didn’t mean to disturb you! I just need a hand over something…’

‘What is it, Naria?’ I said in an angry tone that surprised me.

‘Hey! I recognize you! Now you found your friend, you little minx! Give me my money!’

Followed by the two chocobos pulling the cart, the cart driver’s face was redder than ever as he looked at me with incontrollable impatience.

‘You know I’ve never been good at counting anything, Noah… So as he insisted, I refused to give him a single gil until I have your approval!’

I slapped myself as my two friends from Waldgott began dancing around us, singing:

‘Pay the man! Pay the man!’


	6. Part I: Childhood's End - My land and their land

       

 

‘Basch! Basch, my son!’

I had bent my head over the window, half-awake.

‘Basch! Oh… You’re finally here! Thank the gods you’re safe!’

My mother had hugged him very tight before he could even catch a breath.

Then I’d heard him talk and talk endlessly…

‘Noah?’

I blinked and drank the rest of the glass of water I keep next to me every night.

‘Always the dreamer! You’ll never change, will you?’

Basch sighed and took his towel before walking to the bathroom.

It had been a whole year since my twin came back from the camp. Everything went back to normal, except Basch had developed a particular attraction for all kinds of weapons and I often left him at the Waldgott weaponry before I paid a visit to the Drimers.

‘Noah, where are you?’

Her voice was more anxious than usual.

‘Still in the room, Mom’.

She passed her head through the door frame and smiled:

‘You should come and eat something instead of waiting here. You’re still not totally recovered from last week. I’ve already prepared breakfast.’

I took a deep breath and joined her in the dining room.

‘I really hope you’ll feel better soon, my son’, she said, as she poured tea in my favourite cup.

‘I’m already better, Mom. I wasn’t actually sick last week. It was just a cold, you know!’

‘Oh, _just a cold_!’ she repeated ironically, before falling on her chair. ‘Worst diseases always begin with ‘ _just a cold_ ’, you know! I myself felt I was about to…’

She suddenly stopped, drowning her look in her bowl.

‘What did you feel, Mom?’ I asked before biting in a small cake.

‘No… Nothing.’

We kept on eating until I realized we did not wait for Basch.

‘What about my brother? Is he supposed to eat alone?’

‘Oh, him. I always forgot he was away when he was with your father, and now I always forget he’s back with us now that he’s finished.’

‘It’s been a year now’, I reminded her.

‘I know. Well let’s keep these fruits aside for our upcoming conversation.

I took a sip of juice and looked at her with a growing surprise.

‘What do you mean? Are you angry at him?’

‘Oh, no, how could I? He’s the son I always wanted to have, just like you. It’s just… You know how dangerous it is to wield arms.’

I had begun to understand.

‘Come on, it’s not dangerous at all: Basch has spent weeks learning how to hold them properly, and you know as well as I do the owners of the weaponry never allow a child to touch any of their products without asking and without supervising them.’

‘You’re right, son. Forgive me for worrying too much.’

For a moment she felt like a little girl who got up to mischief.

‘It’s alright, really’, I said while caressing her hand. ‘Did you have any news about Father?’

As she had begun to look at ease, she suddenly stopped moving and rolled her eyes.

‘Mom? What’s happening?’

She lowered her look and it was as if she was even sadder than before.

‘Tell me! Did you get a letter from that officer? You know you can tell me anything.’

‘No I didn’t.’

‘So, is he still there…?’

She sighed, almost sobbing, as she replied:

‘Yes he is.’

My father, according to Basch, was to join his division to fight a Northern tribe, which had decided to invade Landis from the northeast. We didn’t know which race they belonged to, but from what I’d heard and read in the city, they were by far the hardest enemies our army could face. The training near the village was meant to prepare the soldiers for what was to come, so they could face the threat in a good physical and mental shape, and act accordingly in case the Dark Masks start their attack – that’s the name people give them. However, my father was not exactly among the best soldiers, and Basch had told us he had been initially put aside from the upfront troops. But he had insisted so bad that his superiors eventually allowed him to join the battlefield, no matter how unskilled he was, insofar as they needed as many men as they could gather to control the tribe’s violent fighters. He didn’t listen to his officer’s advice, and even less to Basch.

‘I’ve been terribly disappointed by Father’s level at fighting’, Basch had told us. ‘He certainly can make an effort and become better, but I don’t know… something in his mind made him not even try to! He just spends his day roaming and turning around the camp. If it was me, I’d already be an officer after all this time!’

I took my mother’s hand anew.

‘It’s his choice, after all. Something may change and he comes back to us. But for now… You know better than me how stubborn he is.’

‘I also know better than you that your brother is taking exactly the same path as him!’ she exclaimed. ‘Oh, Basch!’

My brother was rubbing the towel against his head as he came into the room with an innocent expression.

‘Is there something about me?’

‘Good luck’, I said, as I left them alone.

After I was done, I put my farm clothes and went out to see how the flock is doing. At the house entrance, I met Basch, who looked also ready to go.

‘Where are you going, Basch?’ I asked.

‘Well I’m…’

‘BASCH!’

Mom’s voice was louder than ever.

‘Well brother, I’ll tell you later. See you all!’

‘Weapon-dreaming, isn’t it?’

Basch muttered something angry and ran away.

‘Basch!’

I would have expected my mother to run after him, with all her energy, as she did so many times before, but she suddenly stopped and fell on the ground, exhausted.

‘Mom!’ I shouted, rushing to help her.

‘It’s alright. BASCH!’ she yelled in turn. ‘I’ll ask Bolesław once I go to the city. And you can be sure your punishment will be immense if he tells me you’ve done anything different from what we discussed!’

Basch raised his arm in some sort of strange respect, and disappeared. I sighed and knelt down in front of the cockatrices.

‘How are you today, little ones?’

They replied with _cluck_ s, _purr_ s, and _woam_ s.

I went back inside, and sat in front of my mother, on my favourite sofa against the bookcase.

‘Are you sure you’re okay, Mom?’

‘Yes Noah’, she replied without hesitating.

She bent over me to take something from the bookcase, then stepped back to sit where she was.

‘I forgot 682 will be a year without Kiltia Reports’, she said in a sigh.

‘Kiltia Report…?’

‘Yes. No chance we’re getting it this year, or any one after. Just like the nine last years!’

She briefly got up to bring herself some more cakes. She was eating a bit too much for my taste, and compared to what she used to.

‘The Kiltia Reports’, she continued, ‘are a special magazine that used to be delivered for free all across Ivalice. It was mainly some statistics about the nations involved in wars, the size of the troops each one sent, the number of dead and displaced, but all this was from a social and religious point of view.’

I knew my mother was a moderate Kiltianist who was inspired by all teachings from Bur-Omisace for her personal development and way of acting in daily life.

‘It also featured quotes from His Grace, the Gran Kiltias, and some small tales which makes us think about the simple value of life. To think the last issue was and will forever be that of 673! Time has passed very fast and everytime I read the old Reports, I have the small hope of seeing a new one someday.’

‘Why can’t there be a new one?’ I asked. ‘That’s random. What happened in… 673?’

She lowered her look. For a moment I thought she was about to cry.

‘If that’s too hard for you to tell, it’s okay’.

‘No, no’, she said. ‘673 was the year our dear Empress Ephedrine died. Even if no one called her Empress…’

Why was she talking about an Empress while we’re living in a Republic? It took me several seconds to realize.

‘Do you mean the Empress of the Archadian Empire?’

‘Precisely. Sorry – I sometimes forgot I’m not Archadian anymore. Lady Ephedrine was the best woman that ever set foot on Ivalice. She was marvellous, fantastic!’

She joined her hand and raised her head towards the ceiling, her eyes gleaming as when she was talking about how much she loved my father.

‘She died so young, after giving birth to her second child. When I was in Archades, she was my role model. Her faith, her beauty…! Such straight hair, such sky-blue eyes! Well, all the young girls I know wanted to be like Lady Ephedrine. She was as important to Archadia as she was to Bur-Omisace. That’s why some Kiltianists want to canonise her and make her a saint. I agree with them. She was also a singer…!’

Now that gives an explanation to both the singing while washing dishes, and the hair smoothing every time it got wavy, to the days.

‘Is it to also have two children that you decided to have twin sons?’

She burst into laughs and hugged me.

‘Don’t be stupid. I gave birth to whatever was in my belly and I wouldn’t change you for the world. But where is Basch? I’m beginning to get scared! You just reminded me that your brother is still outside… He told me he was going to watch – _just watch_ – some weapons at Bolesław’s Armoury. But knowing him, he may already be in danger!’

‘Naaah Mom, please, gizza break, aye? Basch will be alright as! You’ll see him back soon.’

She – thankfully – went back to sit down after she looked on the verge of hurrying after him.

‘Tell me Mom; do you sometimes wish you had contact with Archadia?’

She looked at me with great surprise.

‘No, my son. I do not regret at all the life I’ve chosen. I’m happy at the way Landis people welcomed me and your father, even if the latter has soon left home to join the Army. I’m absolutely certain he will come back and we’ll be together anew. I know it because, even if he may not look like it, he loves the farm. It was his idea. He wanted us to live of flock and crops and stay together until death tear us apart. He changed his mind overnight but I believe that’s just temporary. I’m proud to bear alone the farm’s responsibility while he’s absent. I’m proud to be a Landisite. Even if it’s a good thing to know about other countries, I will never return to Archadia. This is our land, and that is their land.’

At this moment, we heard big shouts outside. I rushed to the door and my mother followed me.

Outside, in the dirt track leading to our house, a group of people was walking. Well, Basch – Mom immediately let out a sigh of relief at seeing him – was running before them and after them at the same time. At the front, Cirla Drimer was leading the group, wearing an elegant black suit and grey shoes. Margit, behind him, was also wearing black, her hands tied and her head lowered. Finally, Nareszcie Olszewska was holding Margit’s arm. Her dress was all white and she was wearing her father’s straw hat.

‘Hey! Answer me! It’s been kilometers you all walk silently like zombies and won’t grant me a single word!’

Basch was right. The group was all silent, and, most strikingly, their faces were all stern. Well, my friends from Waldgott always had a serious look since elementary school, but Naria’s eyes were extremely severe as well.

I waved at them but none responded. They even didn’t raise their heads!

‘Heeeeey!’ Basch repeated. ‘What’s going on?’

I just noticed each of them was holding a flowers bouquet in one hand. From afar, it seemed to be gerberas, lisianthus and Waldgott lilies. All white and delicate. Why did they bother to bring us flowers? And why none of them was talking? Were they angry at Basch?

‘Hello friends!’ I greeted as the distance between us was getting small. ‘How are you, and what is this ceremony?’

‘Noah is right’, Mom added. ‘Welcome here. Could you explain to us what is going on?’

And then, we heard all of a sudden a clear voice rising from the countryside’s silence. It was Cirla. I never knew he was a singer – his voice was admirably smooth and hardout beautiful. The two girls soon joined him in what he was singing. It composed an interesting and moving young choir. Their voices, altogether, were surrounded by an aura of sincerity and innocence. I paid full attention to the lyrics of their little song, and observed the attitude my mother, all ears as well, and her face shining with joy, until she fell down all at once.

_We were to celebrate Love with red roses_

_But we’re coming with Peace Lilies instead_

_The door to Eternity forever opens_

_Because the soldier Ronsenburg is dead!_

‘Mom!’

The two last words were pronounced after a little pause, and sounded hollow in my head. They were pure nonsense. After they finished singing, all three immediately recovered the faces of the teenagers they all were, and rushed to help my mother.

‘Mrs Ronsenburg!’

‘We’re sorry! But please read this official death certificate, we found it at Cirla’s work placem…’

‘Hush Margit! Can’t you see that’s the wrong moment?’

Cirla’s tone had begun to be authoritarian. It didn’t matter. I didn’t know exactly what mattered anymore, if not my mother. Basch was screaming, just like her.

‘Noah! How can you stay still! Give me this paper!’

He grabbed it from Margit, whose brother made her cry, and let it down.

‘Take it, brother’, he said as he handed it to me. ‘Is it really saying that Father is dead?!?’

I took it. Of course it said so, with the official seal of the Army. I nodded. Mom was reaching out for the sky.

‘Why is this happening…! How can this arrive! How long I’ve been waiting for you, my darling… Can this be that you’ve let your sons orphans!’

‘I told him! I told him not to fight the Dark Masks! He wasn’t ready yet! He had to attend to more trainings! What a fool!’

‘How can you say so of your father?’ Naria asked Basch.

‘Well, your father is also a fool.’

Mom and Margit couldn’t stop crying.

‘Please, Mom, get up! You can’t stay on the ground like that!’ Basch said.

But instead, her head fell down with the rest of the body, and she stayed motionless, as if with a heart attack.

‘Mom!’

This time, I joined the others in lifting her up and letting her lie in the living room. Thankfully, she opened her eyes.

‘I… I can’t breathe!’ she gasped.

‘What can we do?’ Margit asked.

‘I’ll go bring the village’s doctor! You, stay here with her!’ Cirla said.

‘I’m coming with you!’ Basch decided.

Both rushed out, running to bring help, as my mother was suffocating.

‘No… No… Don’t…’ she uttered.

‘Please don’t speak!’ Naria said, all panicked. ‘Please try to breathe! Like this! Ooooh… Huuuu…’ she ridiculously explained with her hands rising and falling.

But my mother was still breathing. With much difficulty, but she would definitely not join my father.

‘I’m so sorry!’ Margit burst into tears.

My mother took her hand and tried to smile. Both of their faces were all soaked with tears. For the first time after the notice of my father’s death, I opened my mouth.

‘Mom…’

She slowly turned her head towards me and sniffed.

‘He never cared… Did he?’

As she was crying again, I put my hand on my cheeks. They were all soaked too.


	7. Part I: Childhood's End - The Shard

 

‘Is Nareszcie ready?’

My mother was shouting at us, all excited as a little girl going on vacation for the first time. But something was wrong.

I was alone outside, in the garden, waiting for Basch to finish packing. When he finally came – his bag almost too big to pass the door – I looked thoroughly at his eyes to catch the message. The previous day, at night, we had a brotherly conversation concerning our Olszewska friend. We had very little sleep, busy as we were with our concern – and a little of excitement as well.

‘Mother…’ I began.

‘Well’, Basch interrupted. ‘Noah would probably ignore how to say it so here it is: Old Olszewski died only a month ago.’

I sent him an angry look and pursued:

‘We both think it is a bad idea to invite Naria to join us on our trip to Nabradia’.

Basch and I had rarely been agreed on usual topics, but on this one, we had for once the same opinion.

‘And about your question…’ Basch said, ‘How do you want us to know if she’s ready? We don’t have electronic transmitters. This is the Ronsenburg family, not the Archadian army.’

My mother joined us outside and replied to him:

‘So you consider Nareszcie as a Ronsenburg now? Good, my son!’

She was all laughs. Basch and I exchanged a terrified look.

‘Listen, my sons’, she said, bending over us, a hand on each one’s shoulder. ‘It is true that little Nareszcie is not a part of our family. But it is very important that we make her feel so, because she has lost both parents now and must face life alone. Have you ever wondered how it must feel? And what’s more, she needs this support precisely now; now that she lost her father.’

‘Mom…’ Basch said, a bit irritated.

‘… We did not say we were against bringing her support. We said that supporting her does not involve travelling to Nabradia, to an entertainment park!’ I tried to explain in a lower tone.

Mom stood up and smiled.

‘You do not know it now but I am sure the idea will please her. Let’s get going!’

One year had passed again. One year separating us from the death of the man we used to call Father. My mother had been very grieved in the beginning, hardly setting a foot outside. But for some reason, some weeks later, her mood had changed utterly. She began to spend more time with the flock, with the neighbours from the nearby houses and farms, and of course, with Naria. I thought that unlike what she said, she always dreamt to have a daughter, and the death of Old Olszewski had given her the opportunity to get closer to this lone girl, full of life and energy. She had helped her become a ‘little woman’, as she said, dealing with all kind of housework, cooking and farm work. Slowly but surely, Naria had begun to handle all these tasks alone. She commanded over the farm workers after her father’s death, with surprising authority and influence. She also took care of the farm’s accounting – much better than when we went to sell the goods in Waldgott.

All these news had been given to us by our mother, for we had almost no opportunity to meet her in person since the sad event. And this was precisely the reason bringing her to a trip all of a sudden was out of the question. But Linda fon Ronsenburg obviously had no wish to listen to her fourteen-year-old sons…

‘Come on!’, she said. ‘Don’t look like dead corpses! We’re alive, and we’re going to spend good time in Nabradia with our friend.’

We finally reached the Olscewski farm. My mother had told Naria the previous day to get prepared to go with us, so since she didn’t change her mind, she would probably keep her invitation. And indeed, before we reached the house, we saw Naria riding her Book chocobo all over the garden. She was wearing a white dress and a hat, and waved at us as we were approaching. She apparently was all ready for the trip.

Unaware of what to say on such occasion, Basch and I remained silent as she and Mom were giving the last recommendations to Sydor, the leader of the farm workers. We used a cart to move to Waldgott, where the only aerodrome of Landis was. There was a project for an aerodrome in Kalthof, the capital, but it was still in construction. Many of my old friends’ families were working there.

We took a leisure craft that was supposed to take us to Nabudis. During the flight, Basch was on the deck, all busy looking at the sky full of other airships, and my mother went to rest in the room she had booked. Naria and I remained in the central hall, sitting on a bench, and looking at the people going up and down. The hall was very noisy – which is why my mother chose to retire – with all the people having discussions or coming to buy souvenirs. After a while, Naria – certainly tired of staying near a muted statue – stood up and challenged another lone girl at the other side of the hall to talk. After a while a bangaa joined the conversation. They all seemed very happy.

When the chief steward announced the landing, Basch immediately came down and looked through the window, his mouth wide open. I did not feel any special feeling; although that was the first time in my life I was boarding an airship. We landed, each one holding their cases, and set foot to the Nabudis International Aerodrome.

The first thing I noticed outside was the variety of people. Almost all races of Ivalice were represented: humans, bangaas, seeqs and even vieras. North of the Galtean Peninsula, you could barely see a non-human.

‘Do you need a map, kupo?’

Naria lowered her head and found herself straight in front of a moogle.

Her face went from fear, to surprise and eventually enormous delight.

‘Look, Auntie! How cute is this little thing!’

And she lifted the poor creature up into her arms as if he was a cuddy toy.

‘Umm… It’s a moogle, Naria. It’s live…’ I tried to explain.

‘Noah? Did you ever see those fluffy plushies? You never told me, you idiot!’

My mother interfered to take the poor moogle away from her and apologize for what we did to him.

‘Fine, fine… Now, do you want to buy a map?’ said the little representative from the Cartographer’s Guild.

‘Which maps do you have?’ asked Mom, as Naria was almost crying from being separated from her new toy.

‘The Royal Capital, Nabudis, and the Shimmering Gardens of Nabreus!’

‘Fine, we’ll take a map of the capital.’

Mom paid and we moved forward in the city.

‘Why did you have to take it away from me, Auntie?’ Naria snorted.

‘Well’, Mom explained, ‘it was not an ordinary plush you saw there. In our world of Ivalice, there are many races among people, not only humes like us. Those short beings with little wings and fur are called moogles. They are behind much of the technological and geographical advance we noticed these last years.’

Naria finally became quiet, her mouth wide open.

‘Now Mom, where are we going?’ asked Basch.

She smiled and answered:

‘First we need to leave our bags somewhere. I’ll show you a lovely place where we will settle during our stay, before we get back to see more of the city.’

We followed her into the streets full of people, shops and flowers, until we reach an isolated hill.

‘I hate walking up hills!’ Naria exclaimed, visibly exhausted.

‘Come on, girl’, Mom said. ‘We’re almost there.’

And indeed, after a few minutes, we reached the top, where there was a wooden building and some sort of little forest.

‘Here we are’, my mother said. ‘Is anyone there?’ she added, knocking on the door.

A rather short woman with curly brown hair opened. She was wearing a blue dress and a shirt with a green logo on it.

‘Welcome!’ she said. ‘More customers! Please enter the inn, don’t stay outside.’

She went behind a stone desk and sat on a high chair, looking at many papers.

‘So you are…?’

‘Mrs. Fon Ronsenburg and her three children’ Mom said, and I could see Naria’s face boiling with pride.

The woman gave a deeper look to her papers, then opened her mouth and rolled her eyes.

‘Ronsenburg… From Landis! You’re the guests from Landis! You should have said it from the beginning! Come on, welcome!’

She came out and hugged my mother tightly.

‘Please call me Hrina!’ she said.

‘I’m Basch’, said Basch.

‘I’m Naria’, said Naria.

I looked at them both without being able to open my mouth.

‘Come on, Noah, introduce yourself!’ my mother said, almost angry. ‘Sorry Hrina, my son Noah is a bit shy with people new to him; you have to forgive him.’

‘No problem!’ she said with a big smile.

She invited us to go upstairs, where I began to feel a strange sensation. Something warm, exacerbated by the fire magicites that lit the hall, and that made me feel calm, almost sleepy. I looked forward and, for a second, could not see anything. I was about to shout, but as soon as I blinked, everything became clear again, and I could see a row of doors, each one with a number. Hrina stopped before number 13 and said:

‘This is one of your rooms! The other one is Room 14. Please come in.’

‘I booked two rooms: one for the girls and one for the boys’, explained Mom with a wink.

The room was wide and clean, with two separate beds and a flower bouquet on a large table. Paintings representing landscapes of Nabradia had been put on the walls. Naria immediately fell in love with the room, so Basch and I decided to take the other one, which was similar, though a bit smaller. When we finished unpacking, Mom knocked on our door and told us to come downstairs.

‘Do you have an idea why she’s asking us that?’ Basch said.

‘Not really’, I answered as I closed the cupboard, ‘but I reckon we’re going outside to have a walk in the city or go for a feed in a restaurant.’

‘I really hope it’s the restaurant! I got the munchies and I can’t move anymore!’

I was about to open the door when Basch shouted:

‘LOOK! Noah!! It’s… It’s the meanest thing I’ve seen to the days!!’

I rushed to the large window, through which he was looking, and could only catch my breath.

I often told myself Landis was a green country but what I was seeing immediately showed me I was wrong. It was green everywhere; forests, parks, trees, grass… Every point of view on the city showed it was full of nature between almost every street. From the window we could also see a wonderful landscape, which was portrayed on one of the room’s paintings: I recognized the Shimmering Gardens of Nabreus. It was nothing but flower assortments and water fountains at every corner. There were large passageways for the tourists, as well as large signboards every now and then. I supposed there were meant to explain the history of the place to visitors.

‘That’s stunning’ I said. ‘Now let’s hurry downstairs.’

Basch nodded and we got down the stairs – Basch trying to slide through the banister.

‘Welcome to Nabudis!’ Hrina said. ‘There is something special I wanted to show you.’

What she wanted to show us was a gallery full of other paintings, wisely aligned one next to the other. The decoration of the ground floor was simple and sophisticated at the same time: flowers on the corners, stone tables, a blue and green-colored dining room, and a big chimney. The hall where she took us was at the bottom of the floor, hidden by a wooden little door and lit with storm magicites. Each of the paintings represented – apparently – officials from Nabradia or elsewhere, in a green landscape. They all looked very formal. Hrina began her explanations:

‘This is during the visit of the Agriculture Minister of Landis; do you recognize him? He came to formalize the treaty of free movement of goods between Landis and Nabradia.’

She took us to another painting and said:

‘This is the Prime Minister of Landis. His visit was meant to ensure and insist on the peace between our two countries. For this purpose, they signed a…’

‘Boooriiing’, Basch said in a yawn.

Hrina was at the front, showing every detail on the paintings with her forefinger and talking without interruption. She was followed by my mother, who was carefully listening and nodding at every familiar face she saw, and Naria, who was looking at all the paintings in no order without really paying attention to the commentary. Basch and I were at the back, so only I could hear him.

‘You can at least pretend’ I whispered.

‘I told you I’m hungry! No time to waste on futile gibberish now.’

I sighed and looked at the painting they were currently commenting. It was the last of the hall.

‘And now that we saw this one, I’ll show you the last of the official visits illustrations I own. I hope you appreciated this, boys!’ Hrina added with a louder voice, so we could hear her.

‘Yes, of course!’ Basch immediately exclaimed. ‘That’s very interesting.’

I knew he was a good actor but he surprised me every day. Hrina pursued:

‘This painting is very particular. It was painted by Tishag Lemmop during a visit we had sixteen years ago; and unlike the other ones you saw, this painting has not been done out of a sketch: the people actually posed for the painter, in the Shimmering Gardens. I show it to very little of my guests because it has a particular meaning for me; to be honest I don’t remember when was the last time I showed it to someone.’

‘Come on, show us already’, Basch said with his usual patience.

‘Sorry?’ asked Hrina, thinking he had been talking to her.

‘No… Nothing!’

Hrina stood before a locked door, at the bottom of the hall, and took a little key out of her dress’s pocket. She was about to use it when she suddenly turned toward us and exclaimed:

‘The boys! I had forgotten you brought your sons with you. How old are they? Are…’

‘It’s okay’, Mom said in a calm tone. ‘They are fourteen. I am sure they will behave well.’

Hrina looked at her with surprise and eventually opened the door.

What was behind was not even a room, it looked like a tiny utility room with not even space for a single person to stand up. All I could see was a small table with a drawer underneath.

‘Sorry, you can’t see it very well, but that was made on purpose’, Hrina said. However, if you come on the left, one after the other, you will be able to look at this very particular painting.’

My mother, who was at the front, was the only one at that moment who was at the right position to see. I tried to read the expression on her face but it was still.

Of course, Basch and Naria were battling to steal her place so they could see what was so particular for Hrina. However, none of them seemed to have seen anything.

‘Calm down, little ones!’ Hrina said. ‘You – Basch, was it? – let your friend see first. She’s a girl, after all!’

Why was she saying this? Why was it so important to be a girl to see this painting? It didn’t sound right.

‘Come on’, she said. ‘Do you recognize the man?’

My mother let Naria pass, then it was Basch’s turn. He visibly was trying his hardest to remember the face he was looking at. He let out a: ‘Wooooow…’, and eventually shook his head, just like Naria did.

‘Come on now… What’s your name again?’

‘Noah’, I replied.

‘Come on, Noah. You may pass. This is a hardest guess than I thought. You’re probably going to fail in recognizing who this man is, just like your brother and your friend.’

A bit irritated by her mistrust, I pulled Basch away and took his place in front of the painting.

‘But…’

It was indeed the same place as the one I had seen from the window. Nabreus and its infinite greenery. In front of some sort of mini-castle, many persons were represented, many of whom seemed Nabradia locals. But in the middle, two of them were catching the eye. On the right, I saw a young woman that immediately made me think of my mother. Straight blond hair, a slender figure, and a face… so calm and serious. But she was more than that. She had sky blue eyes, and her head and shoulders were decorated in a totally different way than the men and women we had seen earlier. She was standing straight as a ramrod, her hands joined and… something was not right. All the details of her face were perfectly drawn, especially her nose and her mouth. It was a perfect symmetry, her skin was smooth as milk. Was it the painter or does such a woman exist for real?

‘I think Noah has a problem’, Hrina said, coming from behind. ‘This painting is… not meant to be seen by males!’

I shook my head and felt clearer.

‘I’m fine. I was looking at the woman but I immediately recognized who the man is.’

Next to her, a young and tall man was there; dark-skinned and wearing an armor I knew all too well.

‘So… you know?’

‘Of course I know! It’s Judge Zecht.’

 Hrina rolled her eyes and smiled.

‘You just won a candy. You didn’t know, Mrs. Ronsenburg?’

‘Please call me Linda’, Mom said. ‘I heard many times of those Archadian Judges but never did I see a portrait of one of them. My son Noah, however, shows a keen interest for law, and I guess he heard of this man many times. Right, Noah?’

I nodded and moved next to her. She tousled my hair and smiled.

‘So we have a future lawyer? How lucky I am!’ Hrina said. ‘So, let’s talk about this woman now. Do you know her name?’

She looked at the three teenagers, and we all shook our heads in negation. She turned towards Mom, and saw her smile became bigger.

‘Yes, this is Lady Ephie! Oh Faram, how beautiful she was!’ she replied, with the excitement of a little girl.

‘This is indeed Lady Ephedrine; Emperor Gramis’s first wife’, Hrina confirmed. It is said she had a special power over males who looked at her eyes – a negative power. So it was forbidden for male painters to portray her face, and for men to look at her without her veil.’

‘How beautiful she… was?’ repeated Naria. ‘You mean she’s dead?’

‘Yes, she died in 673, certainly around your birth date. She was very ill and it was hard for her to move, but she came to Nabradia several times, and she even honored me of a visit in this inn!’

‘She actually came here?’ Basch asked.

‘Yes!’ Hrina continued. ‘She stopped by for a prayer, and I didn’t change the prayer room’s laying out ever since.’

‘For a prayer?’ Mom repeated. ‘Could I use this prayer room, sometimes?’

‘Of course! Be my guest.’ Hrina said. ‘Did you notice something else on the painting?’

Naria asked to come and looked at it thoroughly.

‘Yes!’ she exclaimed. ‘There’s a dark blue light above them. What is it?’

‘This is Nabradia’s most precious treasure!’ Hrina said with pride. ‘It is called the Midlight Shard, and we believe it is a gift from the Dynast King himself. It is a magic stone that spreads a blue light, similar of the color of a night sky. The Midlight Shard has not been brought to Nabreus – it is strictly confined in Verdpale Palace – but the painter chose to represent its light shining over the Imperial couple. Some say the King and the Queen showed the shard itself to Judge Zecht and Ephedrine during their first visit, as a symbol of peace between Nabradia and Archadia – maybe that’s why it’s there.’

‘That’s an interesting story. I did not know all this!’ my mother said.

‘Now you should go and visit the city. You can take the same path your noble predecessors took before you; the details are shown on the signboards at the entrance of Nabreus.’

‘And we should also eat!’ Basch pointed out.

We all laughed and we went back to the desk, where Hrina gave us a list of addresses where we could find the best restaurants in the city.

The rest of our stay was positive. Step by step, Basch found the – not so – right words to talk to Nareszcie, followed by myself, and adjudge whether she was bruised inside by her father’s death. At our great surprise, it turned out she had quickly recovered from her mourning – just like we did with ours – and she was all ready for new adventures. She hadn’t changed from the Naria we always knew after all: full of life, open-minded and extrovert. She wasn’t afraid to say what she felt deep inside, and because of this, we knew she wasn’t lying. She also told us that our mother’s support had been determinant for her, so she could know she wasn’t alone in what was to follow. We also promised her to help for the farm and anything else she would need.

Nabudis itself was a vast city, surrounded by hills, forests, and of course the Shimmering Gardens. The entertainment park was located southern Nabreus, not far from the Salikawood. We played water-based attractions as well as horror attractions – it was so funny to hear Naria scream for false skeletons and zombies. After that, we went to almost all the country’s museums – at Basch’s great disappointment – and there was even a Law museum – at my great excitement. I took notes to show Cirla and Margit once we’d be home. The food was… exotic, but still delicious. Basch enjoyed it in particular. We were as happy to eat outside as to stay in Hrina’s lovely inn when we were too tired. Her cuisine was absolutely exquisite and healthy. Plus, she did not charge my mother much for all the meals we took.

One day, however, we had to leave. We had spent a week and half in one of the most beautiful countries in Ivalice, renowned even in Archadia. We packed our luggage and travelled back to Landis. This time though, we had animated conversations with our friend Naria; the glass between us had been broken, and we felt all free again, almost like sky pirates – we played at guessing which of the airships crossing the sky belonged to one.

Once we landed and took a cart back to Uwielbinie village, Naria turned her back and began to shake. My mother put a hand on her shoulder and asked her what was wrong. Then Naria suddenly rushed into her arms and said in a sob:

‘Auntie… Thank you! I would like to pay you for this wonderful trip because that’s too much for a gift.’

‘Oh, Nareszcie…’

She hugged her:

‘Your company is our retribution. Please don’t hesitate in visiting us as often as you want!’

‘Err… I have much work in the farm now that I’m the mistress but don’t worry, we’ll meet very soon! I’ll come with Book! Right boys?’

‘Of course!’ Basch and I replied.

We left her at her house and we went to ours.

On the following day, I prepared to go to Waldgott – I had so much to tell my friends! – but Mom prevented me from doing so.

‘We just came back! You should rest a bit, my son.’

However, after solid negotiations, I managed to get away with it and I went to my friends’ house.

‘Hello! It’s me, Noah!’ I said as I rang the bell.

Cirla came to open the door, his face almost not friendly at all.

‘Come. You’re welcome, but it’ll be a bit complicated today…’

‘Why so?’ I asked, as I left my jacket on the coat hanger.

‘Hello Noah!’ little Margit said. ‘Well, Father has been appointed at the Presidency’s Office and we help him in his hard task.’

‘Which task?’

What were they all talking about?

Cirla’s words opened my eyes:

‘Have you forgotten? We’re in 684. It’s been four years under the same authority. Next year is the big year… We’re preparing law documents for the presidential election.’


	8. Part I: Childhood's End - The Election

 

_Waldgott City, 684 (o. V.)_

Cirla took a sip of tea and asked me to repeat my question.

‘Well, I told you of what happened in Nabradia. It was a nice trip. But in the inn where we stayed, the woman showed us a portrait of Lady Ephedrine and Judge Zecht near Nabudis. I was just wondering why it was the Judge Magister who came to accompany her and not the Emperor’, I said.

‘The Emperor ?’ Margit repeated. ‘The Archadians would never let their emperor out of his palace!’

‘That’s right’, Cirla confirmed while taking a cookie from the little plate on the bedroom’s table. ‘You know House Solidor did not reach the head of the Empire so easily. When they did, they enforced their control by enacting a series of laws – which we already studied – and created the Ministry of Law and the Order of Judges in the precise purpose of keeping their hands clean. So when it comes to travelling – to Nabudis or elsewhere –, the Emperor sends his wife instead – they say he bore no love to Ephedrine –, and assigns one of the Judge Magisters to her protection. Why Zecht? Because he used to wear many hats, including the one of Official Guard of Her Highness. I think the new Judge to hold this title is called Zargabaath. I believe that answers your question!’

He was about to take another cookie before his hand got slapped by his sister’s.

‘Yes, thank you’, I said. ‘How are the preparations for the election going?’

‘Slow’, Margit sighed. ‘There have been so many controversial laws during this term that President Fördern is not sure to be reelected.’

‘And he has many rivals. The longstanding challenger Free Republic party, not to forget the new outsider, Green Progress, that has distinguished itself recently by standing up to the government on the industrial issue’, added Cirla.

‘We haven’t been much into politics, to be honest’, Margit continued. ‘But since our Father works in the Presidency’s Office, things are different.’

‘What about you, Noah? Who will you support?’ asked Cirla.

I looked at each of them with a sort of amazement, then responded in a low tone:

‘I’m not much into politics either. Even if I’ve developed a fond interest for law subjects, I never understood how they can be mixed with politics. Maybe it’s because I’ve never approached a party.’

‘Yes, that must be it’, Margit said. ‘It must be interesting for you to see how they work.’

I finished my cup of tea and stood up.

‘Well, I’ve got to go. My mother told me Naria wanted to see me as soon as possible, otherwise she’ll be mad at me.’

‘Oh, so you have a date with her! Why didn’t you tell us earlier, it’s okay for us, we understand these things’, said Margit with a wink, ‘Especially Cirla’.

‘Well, I _wish_ I had a single date with my dear Doll’, he said with an enormous sigh.

I told them goodbye and made my way back to the village.

I went directly to the Olszewski farm and greeted my friend as she was outside, feeding Book with Gysahl greens.

‘Hey!’ she said. ‘I’m so happy to see you! Basch has come more often than you lately, and it has begun to annoy me. Listen! I want you and I to come to a special place. A very special one.’

My legs shivered as a million thoughts were crossing my head. She continued, while still giving the greens to the chocobo:

‘What’s wrong? I’m sure you will enjoy it. We’ve got a task to accomplish, and I will not feel relieved until we’ve done it.’

What the heck could she be talking about?

‘I’m… I’m sorry’, I said. ‘I think I should help my mother at home…’

‘Stop it, Noah! Auntie knows you’re here and she agrees with my project. Listen, are you a brave guy, yes or no?’

‘Well… I think I am; enough to help you at least.’

‘Then come with me! We’ve got to help _her_!’

Her? Who’s her?

‘Come on!’ she repeated, grabbing my arm. ‘I’m all set. I was just waiting for you to come. Now let’s go!’

Draped in a blue dress and a cloak, she rode her chocobo and looked at me with eagerness. With a small hesitation, I followed her while she said:

‘We’re going to Kalthof! Yahooooo!’

‘The capital?! But it’s even farther than Waldgott! What business do we have there?’

‘You’ll see soon enough. We’re going to spend the whole afternoon there and then we’ll be back here quickly, so don’t worry about anything.’

The road to Kalthof was risky, with many beasts approaching the chocobo and causing me almost a heart attack every time. There came a moment where I literally closed my eyes in order not to see them. But Naria’s ability to avoid the wolves and the wild hawks, while riding the chocobo with a great ease, knowing exactly where she was going midst the forest, surprised me and kind of reassured me near the end of the track.

Travelling northwest, we went through many villages and small towns, crossed the Radość river, and finally saw the coloured banners of the capital.

‘We’re not done yet!’ Naria said, asking Book to go faster. ‘We must reach the Spokój neighborhood! That’s where we have our meeting.’

‘A meeting? But with whom?’

‘No time to explain! Let’s get going!’

And the chocobo went even faster into town, sometimes bumping into random people without purpose. After asking multiple people about the said neighborhood, we eventually reached wide roads with big buildings. One of them, painted in green, had the following letters on its façade: GP.

‘It’s there!’ Naria shouted, as she jumped off the chocobo and held out her hand towards me.

I followed her once again; she was entering the big building.

‘Wait’, she said before passing the door.

‘Yes? What’s wrong? Isn’t here the place of the meeting?’

‘Before we go in, I have to know something. Am I beautiful?’

Was was she asking this now? I tried to avoid the question by a million means and she was looking at me with a scornful face.

‘I…’ I said, ‘I don’t know… Each one’s perception might be different… It’s a hard subject…’

‘Come on!’ she shouted. ‘Don’t beat around the bush! I want a clear answer here and now!’

‘You are beautiful, yes! I always thought you were the most beautiful and brave young lady of this country!’ I shouted in turn, closing my eyes in shame. My cheeks must have turned all red and I felt my legs shaking again. But here, I said it; at least, this place was so far away no one must have heard.

‘Well, that’s a one-of-a-kind declaration.’

A man in dark green costume suddenly appeared from behind, and walked towards the same entry door. Why… Why could I never be left in peace?!?

‘Wait!’

Naria ran to him as he was about to disappear behind the walls of glass.

‘Yes?’

‘This boy is a gentleman, as you heard, and in reality I was asking him if I was dressed and with my hair styled properly enough to meet Mrs. Gretel Pfirsich. Do you know her, Sir?’

She was holding his hands with her eyes full of hope. So that was the reason…

He let his hands out of hers and scratched his head, his eyes blinking.

‘If I know Greta? Of course I do. Everyone working in this building knows who she is. Tell me, why have you come here?’

‘Because we want to help her! I come from Uwielbinie village, and in her last speech there, she said she would need the help of every single soul of Landis to make her win the election!’

He burst out laughing and nodded.

‘I suppose you have an appointment with Tomasz Czarodziejski. He’s the one who receives new recruits. It’s on the first floor, the door on your right.’

‘Thank you, Sir!’

She grabbed my arm and rushed to the stairs.

‘Do you really have an appointment with this guy?’ I whispered.

‘Of course not. I asked someone from the village to write a letter for me and I’m not even sure this Tomasz read it. Let’s enter!’

We knocked on the door mentioning the said name and entered a large, cosy office. In the middle, there was a large black table with several coloured pouffes around it. The desk was just by the door, a standard wooden table and a chair. Behind the dark-haired man sitting on it, a huge amount of folders were gathered on a brown cupboard’s shelves.

Unlike what I was thinking, Mr. Czarodziejski seemed to be a stern man, with his rectangular glasses and arched eyebrows. He gave us a glacial look.

‘Who allowed you to enter this place?’

‘Please Sir’, I tried to intervene, ‘it’s just…’

‘Answer my question!’ he added, with a harsh tone as he stood up all of a sudden.

I could feel Naria shivering; but she wasn’t close to giving up yet.

‘Listen, Sir; I sent you a letter. We are two friends from Uwielbinie Village and we had planned to come here for a long time.’

‘Really?’ said Czarodziejski and I at the same time. Naria stamped on my foot.

‘Yes’, Naria continued. ‘We are not here to play. We have come to help!’

The man walked slowly towards us and closed the door. Eventually he invited us to sit around the big table. The silent around the whole building was so overwhelming it gave me chills.

‘First of all, let me clarify one thing. You are certainly here to work as reporters. We do not welcome any more journalists on our headquarters. Is that clear? Goodbye.’ And he stood up again.

‘Wait, wait!’ I screamed. ‘What’s that about journalists?’

‘We’re not journalists at all!’ Naria confirmed. ‘We are here to work directly with the team in charge of Gretel Pfirsich’s campaign. That’s our greatest wish for years! Please allow us to join in!’

I nodded and stood up in front of him. I tried to put all my conviction inside the look I gave to him, even if I had no idea what all this was about. After a few seconds, he sat down again and made a sign so I do so.

‘My apologies. Lately we had a lot of young people coming in for interviews and pretending to inform the people of Landis, but in reality they were working for Archadian informer agencies’.

‘We’re not like them!’ we both shouted.

‘Please calm down’, said Mr. Czarodziejski, ‘I believe you now. But there’s something I don’t understand: if you’re not journalists, then how exactly do you want to help? You seem so young. How old are you? Wait, I may find the letter you were talking about in this folder… What’s your name?’

Naria decided to answer only to the last question.

‘Nareszcie Olszewska.’

‘Thank you.’

He searched and searched but eventually he came back empty-handed:

‘I could not find the letter. We have received quite a lot of them these days. It’s good to see our Party can gather so many people for the upcoming election, especially compared to the last one where we were almost unknown.’

‘I am here to make Ms. Pfirsich win and no less!’

The man looked at her in surprise.

‘Why so much interest? Don’t you have school or other activities?’

‘I do have a farm to look after, but I am ready to dedicate a lot of my time to preparing the election with you. I’ve been a fan of Ms. Pfirsich ever since she came to Uwielbinie a couple of times; I totally agree on what she says concerning economy and agriculture; for me agriculture is our strength and we have to go on relying on it! We have to transform Landis so our way of life is more respectful of the environment! This is what I believe in and this is why I hereby decide to join the Green Party, with my best friend Noah Fon Ronsenburg.’

She stood up and hit my rib so I do the same.

‘Noah, is it?’

He observed me more accurately than a doctor.

‘So I understand Miss Nareszcie’s motivations, but what are yours?’

Mine?

‘Noah is not especially interested in political matters’, Naria intervened, ‘but he certainly can lend a hand on many subjects’.

She added with a wink:

‘He’s the most clever boy I know in all Landis!’

Mr. Czarodziejski asked:

‘In what subject exactly do you think you can help us?’

‘Law’, I managed to answer.

He took again his doctor-like look.

‘Are you sure? Law? Aren’t you too young to understand it?’

‘I am fourteen years old but it’s been two years I’m studying law with two friends from Waldgott who take monthly classes directly from the Archadian Law Akademy.’

He rolled his eyes then looked down.

‘If that is true, this is simply the best skill we could recruit for our campaign. We need much help for the upcoming series of bills we’re going to propose. Law knowledge is essential, but we may need as well help from people from – he showed Naria – agriculture. I shall discuss on this matter with Greta directly and I’ll tell you what she said.’

He left us in the big office, walking fast on the stairs towards the upper floors.

‘Tell me, Naria’, I whispered, ‘did you really send a letter before bringing us here?’

‘Of course not’, she whispered in turn, her face all distorted.

After a few minutes, Greta’s assistant came back.

‘I have good news for you. Greta wants to meet you.’

I could feel Naria was about to explode from the inside.

‘But you have to be patient’, Mr. Czarodziejski added. ‘For now, you can just come back home and have a rest. Uwielbinie village is pretty far from here! You may come back next week, and we’ll be working together.’

‘Thank you Sir!’ Naria shouted as she tried to hug him, ‘thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!’

He literally escaped from her arms and coughed a little.

‘Well, have a nice trip back.’

‘Wait!’

Suddenly, Naria’s face turned into an ocean of sadness. What was going on? I did not dare to ask.

‘What is it?’ Mr. Czarodziejski said.

She lowered her head and her eyes became watery.

‘I’m sorry for what I’ll tell you. My friend Noah just told you he had the opportunity to take law lessons. Before, he went to school with his friends and his brother. But me… I’ve never been sent to school. I’ve always worked at my family’s farm. This is why agriculture is so important for me. But at the same time… if I am to help you… I will not be able to write down a single word…’

And she burst into tears. Mr. Czarodziejski was visibly worried, as he was not used to my friend’s mood swings.

‘Come on, come on…’ he said. ‘Don’t be ashamed of who you are, little lady. I shall also speak on this matter with Greta and… we’ll find a solution. Together, I think we can move forward.’

He smiled to her and she immediately stopped crying. She smiled back, said goodbye and we went off to see Book, who was still where we left him.

Before leaving Kalthof, we stopped at a pancakes restaurant and discussed everything we saw about the GP headquarters and the city.

‘It’s time to go back!’

I had to pull Naria from her chair before sun set. We made the way back with as much fright as the first time… But I managed to come back home safe.

I did not know exactly what to feel about what Naria got me in, but at least it could be an opportunity to acquire practical skills. I ignored Basch’s remarks on what he heard from the village boys about me spending a whole day with Naria outside, and fell asleep.

I woke up the next week to a sunny day. I waved goodbye to my mother – Basch had already gone to train to weapon handling with some of his friends – and met Naria halfway through the forest. We rode Book again to the capital. On the way, the weather changed to a slight rain shower without it being a disturbance. We reached Kalthof by the end of the morning, and introduced ourselves to people coming out of the GP building. Shortly after, they called Mr Czarodziejski and he asked us to wait outside.

Naria was strangely relaxed. She certainly had appreciated that the man didn’t make a big deal about her illiteracy. A big smile was shining on her face and she had worn her comfy dress. I also didn’t bother much about my clothing. I never did anyway.

‘Sorry for the delay! Here I am, young GP members!’

I raised my head and… probably met the most eccentric person I’ve seen in my life.

She was a rather short woman with rectangular glasses. She was wearing a light green mid-sized skirt with a long dark green suit jacket, put over pink shirt and gloves. Her circular head was surrounded by forest-like orange hair, so messy that I couldn’t even tell if they’re normally curly or straight. In the middle, a white rose has been placed on the left side. After observing her in surprise, I took a look at Naria’s face. She was simply captivated. She said – her voice not even able to come out of her throat properly – :

‘Are you… Are you Greta Pfirsich?’

The woman then let appear what was certainly her biggest campaign weapon: a giant smile that covered half of her wrinkled face.

‘Yes, that’s me. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.’

‘I am Nareszcie Olszewska! And this is Noah Fon Ronsenburg!’

She turned her head towards me, without the smile.

‘I have heard of you both. Please follow me, we will be more at ease inside.’

We obeyed and arrived at a giant meeting room on the same floor. Flowers were decorating it everywhere; the chairs were green and even the chimney was.

I was afraid of what was to happen.

‘First of all, may I congratulate you, Miss Olszewska, for your courage? It’s the first time I’ve ever received a new political activist this way. Usually we recruit from local meetings. Not to mention your young age! Really, you surprised me.’

I had the slight feeling I didn’t exist.

‘N… No, it’s… nothing!’ Naria said. ‘It’s been years I hear of your movement and I wanted to join. I’m so happy I met you… No one can imagine! And please… please call me Naria!’

‘Then it’s settled, _Naria’_ , Gretel Pfirsich said. ‘You are officially a member of Green Progress. I will make sure your member card is sent to Uwielbinie!’

Naria’s eyes were glowing like stars. I just realized she hadn’t shut her mouth since we were outside. She closed her fists and took a winner pose. How could she be so relaxed in moments like these?

‘And, oh, I see you brought a legal adviser with you. Right, Mr. Ronsenburg?’

‘I’m… I’m Noah’, I said. ‘I thought of it and truly believe it will be a good experience for me to help you on this campaign.’

‘Good, _Noah_. I think you can knock on Danek’s door; his office is in front of this room. He is in charge of the Party’s law proposals. I suggest you ask him the date of the next brainstorming session, so you can see how we work. In the meantime, he’ll certainly have something for you to read.’

It took me several seconds before I understood her wide smile was an invitation to leave. I thanked her and moved towards the door. But as I was walking, I could still hear the conversation:

‘As for you, Naria, you understand you cannot begin working with us today.’

‘I also thought much about it, and I’m ready to do anything I can to overcome this and become helpful! Anything!’

Then I reached the door, and it became rude to stay any longer beside it.

I spent the afternoon in Danek’s (his full name being Danek T. Eichhörnchen) office. He informed me that the brainstorming session was the following week, in Waldgott – that would be a good opportunity to pay my old friends a visit. Then he gave me a list of thirty themes around which the Party intended to make law proposals. I spent several hours thinking about how to enunciate these laws, make them plausible with the current legal context, and – the weirdest part – make them attractive. I love law, but how can a text be attractive? After speaking with Danek, he had told me that it meant that most people could relate to it. That gave me food for thought.

At the end of the day, as I was joining Naria outside of the big building, I was curious to see her reaction to whatever her idol had told her.

‘Let’s go’, she said, without even taking a look in my direction.

I followed her on the chocobo and we began our way back. I had so much to tell her, but she never began talking, so I ended up not saying anything. Actually, I did want to find the courage to initiate the conversation myself, for many reasons. First, I liked her more with each passing day, but of course, that was the last thing I wanted to speak about. Then, I wanted to break the ice and ask her what decision had been taken to compensate the fact that she was unable to write – after all, she was the one truly involved in the Party, not I. And last but not least, I would have loved to thank her from the bottom of my heart, for everything we’ve been through together, and especially this opportunity to work on practical law-related tasks, which I certainly would never have found alone. As we reached the farm and she dismounted Book, I cleared my throat and eventually chose the second option.

‘I hope you’re not too disappointed by what Greta has told you’, I said in a sympathetic tone. ‘You know very well you can be useful to the Party no matter what your skills are. That’s what…’

‘What are you talking about?’ she said almost rudely, as she was leading the chocobo to his stall.

‘Well, about what she told you…’

‘Do you even know what she told me? She told me I’d have free reading and writing lessons! She knew a teacher living here in Uwielbinie, who is going to come to the farm everyday so I learn fast! I’m so happy; I just wish… I had someone to announce it to once I come here…’

She looked at the corner where her father used to sit and nervously wait for her, with eyes full of tears. I looked at her and she seemed like coming from war.

‘I am truly sorry…’

‘It’s… It’s okay, Noah. I apologize for the pathetic sight I’m showing you. You should be back to your mom; she must be terribly worried by now, the night has almost settled. We’ll meet next time to go back to Kalthof together… Are we agreed?’

‘Aye!’ I said, sad and joyful at the same time, before obeying. Crossing the forest during the night was slightly terrifying, and I promised myself to come back earlier the next time.

When I reached home and told Mom about everything that happened, she first did not believe me. Then she left the kitchen, raised her arms and shouted in my twin’s direction:

‘Basch, Basch, can you hear it? Oh please, put down this _Swords Magazine_ you read everyday and listen to what your brother just said! Noah is going to be a politician!’

He obeyed – not gladly, it appeared – and shrugged.

‘That’s everything but what I said, Mom’, I objected.

‘But he’s working in Green Progress! Do they pay you for it?’

‘No, I’m still an apprentice and I joined as a volunteer.’

‘Naria goes there too, right?’ Basch asked.

‘What of it?’

‘Why did you have to build up this whole Party thing to be alone with her? There are other choices, you know! Like sports, weapon practicing…’

‘She is not interested into these things!’ I interrupted. ‘And it was at Naria’s invitation that I joined the team, not the opposite.’

‘Come on, brother, you’re ready for all lies just to keep your little secrets! But I don’t care, I’ve also got something planned with her, she wants to go shopping in the City tomorrow evening and I’ll be the one.’

‘Stop it Basch! Don’t fight over useless matters, at least in front of me’, Mom shouted.

I sighed and went to the bedroom, waiting for dinner.

The following months were very productive. After the first brainstorming session, I learnt what were the key ideas of the Party and in which direction they wanted to move forward. I tried to implement them in my first task, and I had to admit Danek was a very good teacher. He was accurate in his words, patient in his coaching, encouraging in his lessons. I found that everything I read through books had a meaning in real life, how laws could actually help people build a better life and develop a country. Danek was surprised when I ofter gave examples of Archadian laws – he had asked me how I knew so much about the Empire and I had told him about the Drimers’ law lessons. He then was even more surprised I knew ‘so well-placed individuals’. I then realized school could make miracles happen, and that was the spirit I tried to communicate to Naria.

But she didn’t need this; I had never seen her so concentrated on something ever before. She pursued her lessons and I felt like the proudest friend the day she showed me how to write her – complicated – name. Her teacher apparently wasn’t the best, but what could she ask more than free lessons. In six months, she was able to read any text, understand the grammar and vocabulary, and even write a paragraph on her own. Basch tried to be present at these lessons once or twice – pushed by Mom –, but he quickly gave up on what he used to call ‘filthy school’. In the meantime, Naria was showing more and more motivation, only looking at the bright side of things, as she was used to.

Quickly after that, Green Progress proposed she joined the campaign in a more concrete way and I felt she couldn’t be happier. Even Basch, who was so reluctant to our political activities in the beginning, slowly admitted it was a good thing to be part of such a growing adventure. And he was also proud of our common friend, who was almost more literate than him at that point – I actually believe he was also jealous. Naria had been assigned to the agriculture hub of the Party, helping other fellow members in analyzing the agricultural state of Landis, travelling to farms around the country, interviewing people and organizations that made earth work beneficial for all. She was particularly good at criticizing the doings of the government, pointing out their flaws and saying things she shouldn’t – as always. But at least, the positive side of it all was: we were both involved like ever in this common project.

Danek, I, and a group of others regularly received law sketches from the different hubs, and we in turn provided them feedback and improvements that could be made. In the end, we concluded that we could sort the thirty law proposals into six categories: Environment, Education, Economy, Social, Cultural and Health. We tried to come up with six definitive laws for each, but this was hard. There were categories where too much needed to be said – like Social – and others where we could hardly agree on a single proposal – like Health. But the Environment part was always full of ideas, and it was the one most cherished by Naria, who came up with crazy suggestions, like taxing people who didn’t use chocobos for their inland travels. In the end, we had approximately all of our proposals, verified by Danek and I, and approved by everyone. We kept on meeting up in Kalthof once a week, but by the end of the campaign, it became clear that this frequency wasn’t enough. So we travelled twice, then three times a week. Mom was a bit scared by this growing commitment to the Party, but I reassured her by telling her it was temporary.

As soon as I began to trust the persons I was working with, I made it clear to them I was not going to work for the Party after the election. It was important for me because Mom was right: it was taking too much of my time, and after all I was nothing but a fifteen-year-old boy. I was so shy at the beginning: too big a building, too many people, too different new topics… but somehow, coming with Naria every week gave me strength; I was staring at the building saying ‘Here I come!’ to myself, and I began to feel more and more… confident. It was a strange feeling because even at school, I was left aside as the weird guy, and laughed at. But then, it was a different world; not even workplace, it was just the community that welcomed me to make big things together. So even if I did not feel myself a member of the Party, I kept appreciating the experience very much and kept this interest until the very end. By the end I mean… the election.

My new work did not allow me much free time, but as soon as I had matters in Waldgott, I dropped by the Drimers’ house to say hi. Cirla and Margit did not have much time themselves, but by the few words we exchanged, I could feel the opposite team was working just as much. My friends did not blame me at all for working with Green Progress, they were actually pleased and found it funny, especially when I told them it was Naria’s idea and dream – they literally laughed. President Fördern apparently was ready for everything to be re-elected : he reprieved a handful of low-class criminals, and lowered the taxes threshold for almost everybody. But the battle was not over.

Poll after poll, Green Progress made it higher. In the beginning of the campaign, they were just another party that proposed old-fashioned ideas. But as Greta Pfirsich’s interviews grew legion, as well as our press releases, people actually began to _believe_ in us. Greta often told us anecdotes about teenagers like us stopping her in the street to ask for an autograph or questions. Her popularity, which determined the popularity of the Party, went growing so fast that the statistics could not find a comparison in history.

Then came the time of the debate. A general debate had been organized in Kalthof, with each party’s representative. Greta’s typical style and look made the difference. Although President Fördern did not have an awful assessment, his arguments were no match against Greta’s expressiveness and attention to detail. She had an excellent memory that allowed her to point out what everybody else had forgotten, whilst always staying relevant to the current question. The other candidates did not particularly stand out. After the debate, many have blamed Green Progress for relying too much on appearances to gain voters’ hearts. As a not politically involved person, I did not have an opinion on this; even if I had to admit Greta’s speeches generally amused me. As always, Naria was very enthusiast everytime her role model was involved in something, and almost interrupted the debate out of applause and shouting (we had been kindly invited to attend with the audience). In these times, I had tried to look elsewhere, to see if Cirla and Margit were present on the other side, but they weren’t there.

I met them afterwards, though. They were accompanying their father as he prepared to attend to the vice-presidents debate in Waldgott. Far from the Presidency’s employee, they revealed to me how much they were impressed by Greta Pfirsich’s eloquence and presence during the debate, as it was related to them. They encouraged me to pursue my work with the Party until the very end, and I had to promise.

Reality was, I had begun to feel tired, much more than in the beginning, and all these political topics, although mixed with law, were way above my head. Rivalry with the Presidency’s camp had begun to materialize into pointless spars, pitiful comparisons and endless quarrels. Outside Green Progress meetings, several groups of Fördern supporters were waiting for us, and vice versa. This created a heavy atmosphere I was eager to see finished.

Finally, the big election reared its head. We were in a sunny week, mid-685. Everybody was ready, yet there was so much work to be done yet. People’s expectations were changing; the context, led by President Fördern, was rapidly transforming, and so had to be our law proposals. Our meetings soon became daily, so Naria and I had to travel as often to the capital. I felt like my health was about to wear itself out, but I didn’t like the idea of giving up so close. Naria’s energy was incredible; ever since she learn how to write, she never stopped writing, and she insisted to give her papers to Greta herself. She knew how to lead a group, even if all the members were older than her. She was respected and appreciated within the Party, and somehow I’m sure Basch would have had the same talent, had he been at her place.

Amidst the sweat, the suffocating warmth and the stress, we all managed to be ready for the first electoral weekend. The first, and obviously longest part of the campaign was over, and to be honest I had many doubts on the law proposals I made, even if they had been corrected and approved by the Party. Doubts about the ‘attractive’ part. According to polls, Green Progress had no chance of winning the first round of the election, and apparently it wasn’t Greta’s main concern. The aim was to make a difference against the long-time rival of the president’s party, Free Republic. They had a lot of innovative ideas and their posters were well-thought and attracted a lot of people. What’s more, they did a lot of door-to-door to hand out their flyers and copies of their program. They historically gathered a lot of voters, and some people in the GP building even told me we were no match against them, and should be expecting the third place. But of course, Greta’s public opinion was different, she encouraged everyone to believe in this small victory and to believe the change we made during the campaign could well be reflected in the results.

‘Is it over yet?’

‘No, people are still voting in Waldgott!’

‘When will the damn votes end?’

‘Half an hour left, guys! Let’s stay alert!’

The results were given region by region, each region having a relatively big city as a capital like Waldgott or Kalthof, and opening hours for votes were of a wider range in those capitals. Out of the seven regions of Landis, two were still voting. Of course, these were Waldgott’s and Kalthof’s.

‘Five! Four! Three! Two! One… Coooooount!’

The count was organized by an independent agency, approved by all the parties. But of course, members of all the parties were present in the majority of polling stations. In Kalthof, the city center’s station was overcrowded by journalists who restlessly moved from delegation to delegation, with much noise. The count was scheduled to take all night, and the following morning. No official results were to be announced before noon of the following day. But of course, here again, polls were very active, and as the results were given, station by station, people started counting their own results.

Greta Pfirsich had prepared a giant room, on the third floor, for this electoral evening. She ordered vegetable quiches as a dinner, and Naria brought several fruit pies with her to share – Book was almost going to collapse during the trip. Several tables had been laid, and there were flowers everywhere, from floor to ceiling. The room had been re-painted and mostly decorated in yellow and pink. On the other side of the tables, there was a blackboard, and one member of the Party – named Drugi – was standing in front of it, regularly writing polling stations’ results as they were coming.

‘How is it going, young lad? You’re not disappointed, are you?’

Danek joined me on my table as all my neighbors had stood up, walking nervously.

‘No, I am not’, I said.

‘Electoral nights are hard, but you’ll see, they are short. Hopefully a good outcome awaits for us at the end!’

‘Let’s hope.’

‘What do you think of the campaign? Naria has been much more involved in the field than you have, being an official member of the Party. But it’s interesting to have your opinion as well!’

‘Well…’ I said, ‘I think I’m glad we finished what was planned.’

‘And what was not! That’s the magic of the elections! Oh, listen; Drugi is giving the results of Uwielbinie. Isn’t that your home village?’

He was right. I listened carefully to what the man was saying but I was too far from the blackboard to catch up with his words, there was also too much noise. And I was too afraid to stand up and get closer, so I just read what he was writing.

** UWIELBINIE STATION: **

**ORDER AND JUSTICE : 34.6%**

**FREE REPUBLIC : 25.7%**

**GREEN PROGRESS : 19.3%**

 

Third place… I felt something close to shame. My own village chose our rivals instead of us. I took a look at Naria’s direction, she was in tears.

‘My friends!’ said Greta, ‘the count is not over! Keep faith in our hard work and in what we have achieved! There is still hope!’

But I could see many had already lost this hope and accepted the fact that we were third.

‘Still not disappointed?’ asked Danek.

‘I am, a little’, I admitted. ‘But earlier, we saw many stations where GP came second. I think we should listen to Greta and hope for the best.’

‘Typically the words of a youngster!’ he said laughing. ‘But that’s why we need people like you among us. Let’s listen to the rest of results.’

The rest was not as enthusiastic as the beginning. It was a series of Uwielbinie results repeating, over and over.

‘We can’t lose this way after putting so much effort!’ Danek shouted. As the others, he was beginning to lose his nerves.

Outside, it was a ballet of chocobos running back and forth between the polling stations of all Landis, the parties’ headquarters, and the official State buildings. We could see them through the light of storm magicites, that had been placed along the roads on this special night. I had begun to believe the final results would never be announced; the sun was showing up in the horizon and there were still an enormous number of results we were waiting for.

I tried to escape from the atmosphere of anxiety surrounding me, since I didn’t have anything to lose or gain after all. Unlike what Danek had told me, hours were passing very slowly for me. The last hours…

‘Ladies and gentlemen! The first round results!’

Greta’s thundering voice woke me up from the sleep where I had fallen.

‘You awake, lad? We’ll finally have the final word!’ Danek said, half mocking.

Greta exchanged some more words with the people who’d been riding chocobos all night, then nodded and turned towards us.

‘My dear friends’, she began. ‘I have sad news to announce. Our Party did not win the first round of this election!’

Everyone was more or less aware of this fact, so only reassured whispers could be heard here and there. The whispers became more anxious once Greta spoke again:

‘My dear friends. I have other news. Let us listen to them by the voice of Drugi, who’s been working hard since yesterday to gather the results! Congratulations to him!’

There was a huge applause, then everyone became quiet again.

‘My friends’, said Drugi. ‘In the name of the Party, I first wanted to thank you all for your continuous effort since the first day of the campaign. The long-time veterans, as well as the talented new recruits!’

He winked at my direction.

‘Today is a great day. We strove to bring to the political landscape of Landis a new dawn, bringing in green fields and innovative projects instead of the eternal industrial mistakes that had been made by our government and suggested by our rivals. This hard work has certainly paid off: we are now recognized as a strong political force within our Republic, and we gathered many new members and allies, whom we all thank from the bottom of our hearts!’

I hadn’t noticed the presence of journalists, who came during my sleep.

‘And now’, Drugi continued, ‘let us proceed with the official final results of the first round of the Landisite Presidential Election.’

Everybody was holding their breath.

‘With almost 40% of the votes, the party of the incumbent president, Błażej Fördern, are qualified for the second round of the election with 38.63% of the votes cast for Order and Justice.’

Some began booing after hearing those names.

‘However, having not won the absolute majority, they cannot be considered as the definitive winners and Błażej Fördern is not certain to be re-elected!’

The boos transformed into hurrays.

‘Now for the second place. Please, my friends…’

Silence came again. We expected Drugi to keep on talking, to finally know if Free Republic arrived second as expected, but instead the silence hadn’t been broken.

‘What’s happening?’ I asked Danek.

‘I don’t know’, he whispered.

But soon, something unusual happened. Drugi fell on the ground and began to cry!

‘Come on, come on Drugi, now is not the time’, said Greta while pulling him up, visibly embarrassed. People began to talk again. Suddenly, Drugi stood up again and shouted from the bottom of his lungs:

‘GREEN PROGRESS IS SECOND WITH 29.87%!’

The young man, still in tears, let himself fall into Greta’s arms while Danek hugged a random woman behind us who was just beginning to smile. I was about to join the others in shouting and dancing when a familiar shape came straight towards me from the other side of the room.

‘Noah! Noah, we’re second!’

I tried to catch Narezscie as she was running, but I failed and we ended up on the floor, the table all upside down.

‘I’m so happy Noah! We made it! We’re the best!’

As we could hear Greta’s speech of victory to the journalists, I raised my eyes to the top, storm and fire magicites giving a softened light, flowers garlands decorating the ceiling, and my best friend crying and laughing in my arms.

 

‘Noah? Noah, where are you going?’

After the jubilation following the results of the first round, I fell asleep as soon as I got back home. Basch did not understand anything and my mother had to restrain him from making noise near the bedroom. The following morning, I woke up almost in a good shape and prepared to join Naria in Kalthof.

‘To the capital, Mom.’

‘But you just came back from that electoral night, darling! You should rest a bit! Why not read one of your law books?’

‘The Party has more of them in its library than I could even dream of. I’ll be back early, Mom, I promise.’

As usual, my mother was forced to see me go, powerless.

The battle between rounds was far from being won. Order and Justice had a comfortable advance over Green Progress, and after all they were the traditional party in Landisite minds, governing the country since ten years. They benefited from a solid popularity, a stable basis of voters, and an overall positive image due to good economical results. So Green Progress had to stand out even more, proposing solutions where Order and Justice had been blind, showing up matters that the others had forgotten, while still offering to the people an image of… order and justice.

That day was organized a new brainstorming session, especially for the in-between period we were living. A debate between Gretel Pfirsich and Błażej Fördern had been planned, and it was scheduled for two days later. Naria was there, as always, and impatiently waited for her turn to talk, to propose one of her out-of-the-blue ideas. When my turn came, I simply recalled some of my proposals that had not been retained by the Party’s hierarchy, but that were very relevant at this time. They all listened carefully and Greta took notes.

The day of the debate eventually came. Naria and I had been invited once again, and we sat next to each other. She was holding my hand tight everytime Greta was asked to answer. Błażej Fördern was a rather tall man with black hair, and was wearing a brown suit.

‘In our country’, he said at the half of the debate, ‘one of our strengths is indubitably the union and the harmony of our people. However, there are times when things are not going this way, and problems oppose people against one another. One of these problems we are facing is the agricultural crisis…’

‘You mean, one of the problems _you_ are facing after the actions _you_ have taken!’ interrupted Greta.

‘Yeah! Well done!’ Naria exclaimed, raising her fist as I was trying to calm her down.

‘During this crisis’, the president continued, ‘I did not stay behind my desk. The role of a true president is to travel across the country to meet the people, their complaints and their question marks. And one of the recurring issues they told me they were facing, was the decrease of the exportations for most of their products. What are your solutions to solve this problem, Ms Pfirsich?’

Greta adjusted her glasses before answering.

 ‘The agricultural crisis is indeed one of the main concerns of our people. Without being able to sell their products properly, how can one see a bright future for their business? We have been overrun by Dalmasca and Nabradia, to cite but a few. Chocobos and cockatrices make for a fine flock, but although new species have been introduced into our farms, revenues are little and prices are harsh in the international market. However, there are ways to increase exportations by diversifying the range of products and entering new markets. What about developing nanna farming? Nanna cheese and milk are still unknown in big markets like the Empires, and they have been proven to be good for the health. If I am elected president, I will sign a pact with the Garif, so they can provide us with some of these interesting animals. More products means more chances to export Landisite agriculture, and this could be a solution.’

‘Yeah! Exactly as we said before!’ Naria screamed again.

According to the Landisite Constitution, dating from the previous century, the future president was elected at the absolute majority of the votes cast. If that didn’t happen in the first round, then a second round was organized with the two highest-scoring candidates. This was exactly what was happening, thus the presence of these two candidates in the debate. A same person can only aspire to two presidential mandates, each one being of five years.

‘Hah!’ President Fördern said. ‘What a surprising idea from the candidate who recommended shutting down our most valuable factories!’

‘I never said we should shut them down’, Greta quickly corrected. ‘But rather, that we should operate a giant operation of industrial transformation in our country. This is what Landis needs the most at this moment. By using renewable energy to produce what we do best, not only will we come out better off, we will create jobs as well. A whole range of the industry is yet to be discovered, and none of our leaders dared to try it before. If I am elected president, I will be the president of change and progress!’

All Green Progress allies applauded.

After the debate, there was still work ahead of us. Law proposals needed to be refined, and leaflets needed to be distributed to a maximum of people. This time, I had been asked to participate, but I refused. I was not a member of the Party, and distributions occurred mostly at evenings. I didn’t want my mother to worry more than she already does. But Naria accepted. After all, she didn’t have to answer for anything to anyone. So I kept travelling to Kalthof every morning, and coming back every afternoon. I had noticed Basch had begun to ask more and more questions at every dinner. He was convinced I was a member of the Party, and whatever justification I gave wouldn’t do. So I quickly gave up explaining to him, and I gave the simplest answers possible to his curiosity. As for Mom, she was still worried to see me travel everyday restlessly, but she had begun to accept it; and without being supportive of the Party or anything, she wished me luck everyday, asking me to give my best.

And finally, the big day came. The period and end to the election. I arrived at Kalthof earlier in the morning this time. The sun was shining high in the sky, and people had just begun to arrive in the Party’s headquarters. Naria came early in the afternoon, bringing a dozen of pies this time – so each one of us came with their own chocobo. The giant room was decorated exactly as the previous time, and Drugi was still standing next to the blackboard, ready to collect the results. Many journalists followed Greta Pfirsich as she went to vote in the nearest polling station. The others voted as well – except Naria and me, of course.

‘Have you heard the news?’ said someone as soon as we got back in the building.

‘The post-debate poll results came out!’

‘Look!’

‘It’s incredible!’

I managed to get one of the papers that were going from hand to hand, and read what was written.

‘We are first!’

‘Greta rocked the debate!’

They were right. If the election result was the same as this poll’s, then Green Progress would win the Presidency of Landis. Was such a thing possible?

‘My friends’, Greta said with a strong voice. ‘Let us not take conclusions too quickly. Everyone, at your post! We’ve still much to do!’

For the dinner, this time, there was a big buffet for every member, supporter and journalist. I often wondered where all the money came from, but Danek told me the previous time it came from the members’ subscriptions, and since their number grew drastically since the beginning of the campaign, the Party had more money. And it also came from State subventions, which were given to all official political parties.

I was about to fall asleep again when I suddenly felt a strong hold on both my arms. I screamed.

‘Hahahaha! Such a fright, isn’t it?’

‘Let him get a grip on himself, brother.’

The two voices kept quiet and I opened my eyes… Cirla and Margit were before me.

‘Sorry…’ I said. ‘What in the world are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be helping your father?’

‘We asked him’, Margit said. ‘We really did. But all that we earned was ‘Go back home’ and ‘Do what you want but don’t follow me.’’

‘So, after insisting and not being able to enter President Fördern’s headquarters, we chose to pay Green Progress a visit!’ Cirla concluded.

‘It’s beautiful here! Look at all these flowers!’ his sister exclaimed.

‘But… Isn’t there a problem that you’re here?’

‘Nah! We’re just teenagers like you discovering politics. And since we’re here, we’re also going to support Green Progress… just for tonight. And… one more thing, Noah’, Cirla said, raising his forefinger. ‘You think too much that we’re working all the time helping our father. That’s not correct!’

‘All we did was correcting a few papers and sharing our ideas with him’, little Margit added. ‘That’s nothing in comparison with what you did here!’

‘You’ve done a fantastic work! So you’ve been really involved in the Party’s official law proposals! Working directly with the hierarchy! That is great!’

I tried to thank them but they kept praising me on and on, so I just interrupted them and invited them to take a meal at the buffet. They immediately obeyed.

‘Where is Naria?’ Cirla suddenly asked, his mouth full of meat.

‘I don’t know’, I admitted. ‘She’s been working with the agricultural hub and she made friends there, so I guess she must be with them.’

‘But that’s so wrong, Noah!’ Margit shouted after swallowing her juice. ‘As a gentleman, you should always stay by her side! No matter the new friends, no matter the circumstances! You are important!’

‘Maybe but, err… Could you keep your voice down?’

‘Let’s look for her’, Cirla suggested. ‘We have to congratulate her for all the effort she put into her lessons.’

‘That’s right! Let’s go!’

Nareszcie was, as the previous time, at the other side of the room. But unlike what I had thought, she was alone. She greeted my friends with a full smile:

‘Well hello, you two! I’ve missed you! It’s been so long! Woohoo Margit, you’re cuter than ever!’

‘Oh please’, Margit said, turning all red.

‘Noah wanted to tell you something’, Cirla said, without looking like it.

I promised to take my revenge against him once we met his Archadian ‘Doll’.

‘What is it?’ Naria asked, turning her beautiful look towards my blushing face.

‘Actually, it’s them’, I managed to say.

Fortunately, Margit followed my thought and they congratulated her for taking her lessons.

‘It’s a strange feeling!’ Naria said. ‘I feel almost as clever as the three of you, now!’

We laughed and a member of the Party asked us to speak more quietly.

‘Let us go to my table’, I suggested. ‘There’s almost no one around there.’

In the middle of the crowd, I lost my friends. I tried to keep Naria at sight but she vanished like the others. I was too shy to push people on the right and on the left, so I just waited for them to move and made my way forward. Finally, my sight was clear. I reached the bottom of the room, where I left my table, and… watched my three friends as they were talking to Basch.

‘B… Basch? You too?’ I said.

‘I finished work at the farm so I asked Mom if I could go and she said yes. I finished everything I had to do. Can’t say the same of you, heh?’

‘Oh come on’, Margit said. ‘Noah has worked so hard with the Party, let him do what he wants!’

‘It’s so strange’, Naria said in a low tone. ‘Before reaching this place, I was convinced that Noah had come before us at the table, and that it was him waiting for us.’

‘Hah! Don’t compare me to him, okay?’ Basch said.

‘But how could we not: you are twin brothers!’ Cirla exclaimed.

‘But tell me, Basch, why have you asked Mom to come here?’ I said nervously.

‘Because I wanted to! Do I need a reason to do as I please now?’

‘Please, please’, Margit tried to calm him down again. ‘He just asked you a question.’

I was pretty certain he came because of Naria, which did not exactly make me happy. Immediately after, he took her arm to whisper something in his ear and she laughed, while Cirla and Margit were talking about the changing weather. I decided to ask the latter:

‘So… Will you stay until the results?’

‘Of course!’ said Cirla. ‘We’re going to party all night with you!’

‘Well, this isn’t exactly what I’d call a party… I am dispensed from working but they are other people who…’

‘Don’t bother!’ Margit interrupted. ‘We’ll be alright together! We, too, asked our mother before coming so there’s no problem.’

I was about to say something but each one took one of my arms, just like when they appeared, and dragged me away to the buffet, where they suggested we ate more free food.

Independently from the fact that I was with my friends, the atmosphere in the giant room was way better than the previous time. People shared food and exchanged smiles and encouraging words. Everybody believed in Green Progress’s chances to win this election now. It was just a matter of time.

At the middle of the evening, Drugi announced the closure of all votes in the country. Everybody applauded, then we came back to our tables to listen to the first results. Some polls came out, saying that we had won, but Greta swept them away with a motion of her hand.

‘Let us not focus on rumors, but rather on our actual chances to win together. And thanks to everything you managed to did, they are real!’

Everybody shouted: ‘Gre-ta, Gre-ta, Greta’ and Naria walked up the table so she could be seen once again by her idol. Then the leader went to give an nth interview to the journalists and the five of us looked one another straight in the eye.

‘Well’, said Basch loudly, ‘What are we gonna do?’

‘What you’re going to do?’

Danek, who heard him speak, came towards us.

‘I see you brought company, Noah.’

‘Well, I… Not really…’

‘Anyway’, said Danek. ‘If you want to help, here’s something you can do. First of all, do all of you know how to count?’

Margit, Cirla, Naria and I nodded, while Basch looked at his feet.

‘I can manage well with numbers’, he said.

‘Very good’, said Danek. ‘So basically here’s the task: unofficial results are coming, station by station. Your aim will be to gather the results from all the polling stations of a region, to give us an idea of the percentage we made in each place. Here’s a map of Landis next to the blackboard; the red dots are the towns with a station people voted in. Dispatch the regions as you please. We need a report every half hour. Good luck!’

And he went away. Once again, we stared at one another, speechless.

‘What was that?’ Basch asked after Danek disappeared.

‘I don’t know’, Naria said, ‘but it’s for the Party, so I gotta do it!’

‘Well, if you’re doing something, count me in!’ Basch concluded.

Eventually, we managed to take each one a region and began working. Cirla and Margit took respectively Waldgott and Kalthof regions, for their experience with their geography, and the remaining three took three more distant regions. Basch and Naria were particularly lost, but I was there to help one, then the other, then came back to the first – until they understood what there was to do and did it by themselves.

Drugi had begun writing the results. We literally battled to get in front of the map, to see which one’s region the current station belonged to. At first, there were mainly the three remote ones, so Basch’s, Naria’s and mine, because the big cities’ results came last. So it was a bit of a mess, since I was explaining all the time and the two did not listen to me. But eventually, they began adding the numbers calmly and counting the results. I asked them to re-calculate the total three times before they give it to the Party’s hierarchy – just in case. Kalthof and Waldgott coming last was a good thing, because the three of us had less work, and both Basch and Naria were very tired. The little farmer even asked us if she could sleep on our knees – mine first, then Basch’s, and for an equal time. I took a look at Margit’s face as I was trying to disregard the blonde head peacefully sleeping on my thighs:

‘Hey! Are you alright?’

She raised her thumb with a wink, and I knew she was alright. It was a relief because she was even younger than us, so I had thought she might be troubled by staying awake all night. But the little girl kept working endlessly, very concentrated and visibly motivated. Cirla showed more boredom, but I knew his spirit was the same.

‘Official results in one hour!’ Drugi suddenly shouted.

I felt ashamed for having fallen asleep, even if it was just for some minutes. In front of me, brother and sister were still conscientiously working on their numbers. The weigh on my thighs had disappeared: Naria had already gone to sleep on Basch’s. The latter was still awake, looking at the blackboard from time to time. It was surprising to see Basch so concentrated on a task. It kind of made me happy. Fortunately, as I had thought before, Naria’s region had not appeared on the board for hours, and neither did mine nor Basch’s. So all the home stretch was left to my two Waldgott friends, which kind of made me annoyed.

‘Is it okay for you to do all this?’ I ventured to say.

‘No problem!’ Cirla exclaimed, without raising his feather. ‘We had expected some task like this before coming. We’re always ready to help, even if our father wouldn’t agree on it!’

‘You mean, _especially_ if Dad wouldn’t agree on it’, added his sister with an angelic laugh.

‘By the way’, Cirla added, ‘According to what I have here, Uwielbinie voted for Greta Pfirsich in majority!’

‘Really?’ Margit said. ‘Then Naria has done a nice job convincing everyone!’

I looked at my sleeping friend and smiled.

‘Results!’

‘Results!’

‘But…’ Margit said, visibly disappointed. ‘We were just finishing this report for…’

‘Hand it over to me.’

Greta Pfirsich, who was walking nearby, stopped at our table and took their papers with a big smile.

‘You are friends of…’ she began.

‘Noah’, I said.

‘… of Noah’s, aren’t you? Thank you very much for coming.’

She played with Margit’s curls for a second then went away.

I was about to say something when the little girl opened her mouth in amazement and exclaimed:

‘She’s so cool!!’

‘You see? I told you!’ Naria approved, awoken by the ‘Results!’ cry.

We all sat at our places and listened to Drugi, who was coming back from outside – the chocobos ballet again.

‘My friends’, he began. ‘This year, and tonight in particular, we have had the opportunity to make a real change at the highest level of our beloved country. Our party, Green Progress, has made a spectacular advancement among all categories of Landisites. Now has come the time to have the final word of the story, the final results of the Landis Presidential Election. They are in this envelope you see before you – the same has been given to the President’s headquarters. But will he remain president again for the next five years? This is what we will see now.’

The silence was so overwhelming I could hear Naria swallowing.

Among the results we gathered as a group, Green Progress had the highest score in almost half of the regions, and Order and Justice had the other half. So it was very risky to pick up a winner out of these reports. Plus, what we did didn’t show the results on a national scale, which we hadn’t been asked to do.

‘The second candidate gathered a total of 49.24% of the votes.’

So close! The winner would not have won hands down. If Green Progress made this score, then I thought everybody could be proud of what we did, even if it’s the second place.

‘Come on!’ the journalists lost patience. ‘Say who it is!’

‘It is…’ Drugi said.

What if Greta had won? Naria would be the happiest girl on Ivalice, that would comfort her for years. After all, GP won according to the polls, and we had all our chances after the progress we made. What if the small village I was born in, Uwielbinie, could represent all of Landis, for once? All the lights were green, and Drugi just had to say that the President’s party came second. I took a look at Cirla; his long hair was sticking to his skin, and his eyes were throwing red lightning. I had never seen him this way, even before an exam when we were in school. Margit was hiding her face behind her hands, her body was all shaking. Basch closed his fists and Naria was simply… motionless. I was holding my breath when I sensed a hand on my shoulder:

‘Hey!’ Danek whispered.

I nodded to make him know I was listening despite the crucial moment.

‘Before we have the results, I wanted to tell you something. I’ve seen many law students be proficient in Education, Military or Social domains… But you, you are very good at every single field. Congratulations, little lad. I don’t know what you’ll choose to become, but let me tell you you will go very far.’

And he turned away. His words made me feel even more confident about our victory. I owed so much to this man. Now the first place had never looked so close. Drugi just had to say it.

‘… Greta Pfirsich from Green Progress.’

A general silence settled in the room. It was so disturbing that Drugi could continue:

‘Błażej Fördern has been re-elected with 50.76% of the votes cast. Thank you.’

The journalists quickly took notes and approached Greta to see her reaction, but she obviously didn’t want to react.

For the third time, the five of us exchanged a blank look, then Naria rushed into my arms, all tears:

‘I believed it so strongly, Noah! I believed this year was the year! And that we would win…’

‘I’m sorry Greta has lost. But look at the positive side: the Party is now famous!’

She sniffed and raised her teary eyes towards mine. Then, in a common gesture of exhaustion, the five of us fell on the ground.

 

During the weeks following the defeat, I did not dare to come back to Naria’s farm. First, because I knew she would be inconsolable that her idol lost. And second, because she was certainly very busy after all this month working for the Party, taking lessons, and delegating land work to Sydor. She had to keep up with what happened at the farm, dirty her hands again and probably make some changes to the way they worked. Alright, maybe the right motive was that I had no specific reason to go and see her. On the contrary, Basch went to see her almost every day, or they met with other young people at the central place of the village. I felt particularly uncomfortable meeting Naria with Basch, so I never accompanied him.

One day that both were having fun in the village, someone knocked on our door.

‘Who is it?’ asked Mom. ‘It’s too early to be Basch!’

I shrugged and opened the door.

‘Hi Noah! Is your mother here?’

Little Margit, her hair all messy, did not even wait for my answer and rushed towards Mom.

‘Auntie, it’s terrible! Please, you have to help me!’

‘Ma… Margit Drimer? What brings you here, my dear? Where is your coach driver? Is your mother aware that you’re here?’

‘ _Please_ , auntie! You have to believe me and come with me right now to the Waldgott Hospital! My brother is in a bad state!’

‘What happened to Cirla?’

Margit completely ignored me and pulled my mother’s arm. It was so unusual from this well-behaved little girl. I knew something really bad has indeed happened.

‘Alright, I’m coming with you, Margit. Please calm down. Noah, you’re in charge of the house until I come back.’

I nodded and looked at their shadows getting farther and farther away.

My mother came back early in the afternoon, but refused to tell me what she saw.

‘Margit made me promise I don’t tell it to anyone! She didn’t mention an exception. But maybe you can pay the Drimers a visit and see for yourself.’

‘Is Cirla out of the hospital?’

‘Not yet, I’m afraid…’

I immediately took some gil and paid a cart to Waldgott.

Once I reached the house, it seemed like Margit was waiting for me.

‘It has a link with Doll. I don’t know how exactly, but my brother managed to exchange some words with her and it infuriated some people around her’, she told me.

I then remembered our conversation about how supposedly dangerous it was to approach an Archadian.

‘But why is your brother in the hospital?’

‘They… They stabbed him in the shoulder. It was horrible. We cannot say anything to the parents and we needed an adult to sign some papers at the hospital; this is why I thought of your mother. I’m sorry to put you in this situation…’

‘It’s… it’s okay! Do you know who committed this crime?’

‘No. I just know they’re Archadians who are trying to protect Doll’s ‘purity’ and what not. They’re not even from her family, although a family member might have sent them. If Mom come home and asks, the official version is that Cirla’s having a complete medical check at the hospital and by the time he remembered he had to do it, he didn’t have the time to warn anyone, alright?’

‘But why can’t you say it to your parents? It’s important, you know! And after all, Cirla did not do anything wrong! It all comes from these filthy Archadians! If Doll is the problem, don’t mention her; just say… he has been attacked randomly.’

‘This attack cannot be seen without it context’, Margit shook her head. ‘It’s indubitably because Cirla’s interested by Doll that they did this to him. But the true reason why he asked me not to tell anyone anything is not the attack itself…’

‘What is it then?’ I asked, beginning to fear.

‘I shouldn’t make you worry more – the doctor said Cirla’s not in danger. But this paper left him completely mad. And even if all this is a secret, I’m sure he would allow you to know.’

I bent over the table to see the paper she was talking about. It was an old scrap with red letters scribbled onto it.

‘They left this in his pocket before fleeing’, Margit explained.

She unfolded the paper completely and I blinked, not exactly sure of what I was reading:

**_NEXT TIME, IT’S YOUR SISTER’S HEAD._ **

I gasped.


	9. Part I: Childhood's End - I can't choose

 

 _Uwielbinie Village, 686 (o. V.)_  

Several months had passed since the re-election of President Fördern at the head of the Republic. ‘Democracy is the greatest gift that has been granted to our nation’, he had said in his swearing-in speech. Quickly after taking back his position, taking into account the now huge popular demands for Green Progress’s ideology, he put in place a series of measures to facilitate the task for land workers. Greta Pfirsich quickly reacted, saying that he was stealing the ideas that almost made her win the election, for mere public image reasons. But that was pure politics, and I did not venture further into these matters.

After this difficult period, I managed to have a rest by not having to travel everyday to the capital. So I stayed at home in Uwielbinie, helping my mother with the farm, and reading the latest law books. Dalmasca and Nabradia laws were interesting too. Different from ours, but still interesting.

But at the beginning, the topic that most caught my attention was my friend’s health. Cirla Drimer had been allowed to leave the hospital rapidly, but he had to hide his injury from his parents and basically from everyone. It was my mother who went to visit them, stating she just wanted to know how the medical checks went, and thanking the parents for allowing their children to share their law lessons with me. She told me he looked fine, so that reassured me a bit.

My relationship with Basch got quieter. He had been allowed to go to a new fencing club that opened in the village, and he was too happy spending his phenomenal energy there everyday instead of criticizing my manners or interests. He even invited me to join the club once or twice, but there was nothing to be done: I was way happier with books than sword in hand. According to Basch’s own sayings, he was making quick progress, and was regularly selected to participate in national competitions. His trainings consisted in real fights – which frightened me, although they had protections – with one-handed swords and a shield, two-handed swords, or sometimes even other things like spears and ranged weapons, through monthly activities or meetings with other regional clubs. He appeared more confident every time he came back from one of these trainings, to the point that his personality changed. He was no more the village boy who spent his days looking for a silly thing to do or annoying someone. As a result, my mother was receiving fewer complaints from the neighbors, so she was surprised and relieved at the same time. But deep inside, she feared that Basch would take the same path as our father, and face the same fate, especially since he was young and still stubborn – people never completely change, do they. However, I tried to look at the positive side and I encouraged my brother to do what he loved more. And for some reason, it made me sincerely happy. In turn, Basch had also been very enthusiastic when Mom had showed us a job offer for a legal apprentice on the newspaper. He kept telling me I was the one and I had the guts to do it and what not. I chose to listen to him, went to the little company that was hiring, did the interview saying all I learnt from my little experience… and I got the job. Basch called me ‘the brains of the family’ and was convinced I would bring a ton of gil home someday. In the meantime, the job I was doing didn’t pay much, but that was enough to make all the family happy.

At some point, months after Basch, I found the courage to go to Naria’s farm. It was mostly to help her with the work, like the good old times. The first time I returned, she was busy writing something. Out of curiosity, I asked her what it was.

‘If it isn’t our legal apprentice!’ she said with a big smile. ‘I’ve been told of your new position by the boys in the village. How come you didn’t come visit me earlier? I can’t believe your job takes all of your time. Are you angry at me? Did I do something wrong during the campaign? Oh, I know; you’ve been sad all along because we lost. But don’t worry Noah, Greta herself has overcome this, and she’s more than ready to play her part anyway’.

I tried to stop her never-ending tirade, but as always, it was useless. However, she suddenly stopped talking by herself. She raised her forefinger and opened her mouth, looking away, as if she just remembered something important.

‘But you asked me something! Yes… what I am writing…’

She sat down at her little desk in the garden and considered her paper.

‘This, Noah, is the farm’s accounting. I’m trying to organize things better here. Look at this table: this column is the products, this one the number of sales, and this one the unit price, so here we have the total gil we earned for each product, and then we can work the big total out and decide what to do with this money! Is the table correct?’

I came closer and looked over her shoulder. The table had been properly done, and the figures were marked with a beautiful handwriting. I quickly made the calculations in my head and answered:

‘It’s all correct. You made huge progress since last time, Naria.’

She blushed and scratched the top of her head, rolling up her eyes. She was so cute when she acted like this!

We kept on seeing each other, more and more often, and in various places: near my home, at the central place of the village, or in her farm. My favorite place of all was a portion of her big garden, with a view on the forest. It was so peaceful and sitting there made all my sorrows vanish away.

One day, after finishing work early, I came to see her with a bouquet of flowers. It was not the first time I was doing this gesture, but I felt like each time it surprised her more.

‘Oh, Noah! You shouldn’t have! What beautiful roses! I love its composition! Thank you so much!’

And I won a kiss on my left cheek. Life was not so bad.

She went indoors to place them in a vase and came back with a big smile.

‘Why not sit in the garden next to the forest? I know you love this place’, she suggested with a wink.

I followed her, smiling in turn.

She took my hand and… stopped halfway.

‘I forgot something. I have to oversee Yango’s doings!’

‘Yango?’

By dint of spending time in the farm, I had begun to learn every worker’s name, but this one was unknown to me. Or was it another of her chocobos?

‘He’s new here. He’s in charge of taking care of Book today – an easy task, of course’, she explained.

We began walking backwards to the farm.

‘You know what?’ she said in a cheerful tone. ‘Now I don’t only have one Book. I have many books, and I can read them! Back then, I didn’t even know this could happen someday. I’m sure Mom would be proud of me. Oh, there he is! Yango!’

She was looking on her left and I turned my head towards the same direction. And there, into the chocobos pen, feeding Book with Gysahl greens was standing… a bangaa.

‘Oh Ma’am Nareszcie! I been lookin afta Book but he ain’t no fond of food today, I dunno why; I swear I haven’t…’

‘Have no fear, Yango’, she said in a strange authoritarian tone, ‘I haven’t come here to scold you. You say he didn’t eat much today? Let’s see…’

She took the animal’s head between her fingers and held it up in a professional way.

‘He has been ill lately. You haven’t forgotten what I told you this morning, have you?’

‘No Ma’am!’

‘Has the veterinary come today?’

‘Yes Ma’am! He looked at all the animals then said he’d come back tomorrow!’

‘Fine. Continue to feed Book with Gysahl greens, he must accept them sooner or later.’

‘Yes Ma’am!’

I greeted him before we went away, then asked Naria:

‘Why don’t you ask him to call you by your name? This is ridiculous.’

She waited until we got far to answer with an evil laugh:

‘Because it’s funny!’

I sighed.

‘It’s his first day’, she added. ‘Let him struggle a little bit!’

We climbed up a wooden little hut, and sat over the thatch roof. The sun was beating down on us and we were wearing light clothes. Naria, in particular, had a yellow tank top dress with white flowers. Her blond hair was flowing down her shoulders, and the dress let appear her slender legs. Between us and the horizon, the wide forest stood fierce. A quiet breeze was shaking the pure air.

‘Has Basch come to visit lately?’ I asked, not certain I actually wanted the answer.

‘Of course. Why, he was just here yesterday. Are you jealous?’

‘N… No! Not at all!’ I said, a bit upset. ‘I was just wondering… what you were doing when you’re together.’

‘Umm… let me remember what we did yesterday…’ she said, looking at the sky. ‘A chocobo race in the morning, then an eating contest at lunch, and during all the afternoon he showed me his moves with an imaginary sword. Oh, he’s certainly proud of himself! He was commenting every one of them, I couldn’t even understand a bit. He told me he had a real sword now, were you aware?’

I was. The club had given Basch an actual weapon as a token of gratitude for his continuous presence and support for their activities. It was a Mythril Blade, a very rare beautiful sword that was commonplace in Dalmasca. But Basch told us he wasn’t going to use it except ‘when the time comes’. It was well hidden in the house – not that I’d dare to touch it anyway.

‘Aye’, I answered.

‘He also told me he began to take on hunting quests with a team from the club, so he can sell loots from monsters and earn money on his side.’

I clapped hands:

‘So there’s where he got all his recent money from!’

Naria laughed.

‘Yes. He told me he wanted to buy me a _big_ gift, but he didn’t tell me what it was. Basch has his secrets, even for me!’

‘Heh. That’s just words without consequences. He’s certainly good at nonsense boasting.’

‘Don’t be rude again!’ she said angrily. ‘I thought you were good friends again.’

I sighed.

‘He went to Waldgott all week long’, she continued, ‘he signs up on hunts in the tavern with his team and here they are chasing monsters in the forest. The reward may be good, but doesn’t this scare you?’

‘It sure does! It… I think it’s useful to learn to wield a weapon, but I can’t imagine myself doing it on a regular basis. It can hurt someone, or worse…’

I didn’t want to sound like a coward.

‘However, I think that it’s good that Basch kinda found his path. He’s happy the way he is.’

Naria smiled. She was always glad to hear a positive opinion on Basch from me and vice versa. I promised myself to say more of them in the future. After all, Basch was my brother; something told me one day I would forgive him everything. Life was not worth focusing on bad behaviors and mistakes.

‘Do you remember our trip to Nabradia?’ I said.

‘How could I forget? It was the most beautiful of my life! Nabradia, the lovely kingdom with a king and a queen, and their lovely baby! Hrina told us about them.’

‘Well, they just had a second baby. They named him Rasler.’ I informed her.

‘Awww! That is so cute! How did you know?’

‘From the newspaper.’

‘I wish these people peace and prosperity. They so much deserve it!’

To be honest, I didn’t have more ideas for a conversation. I slid my hand through my hair in embarrassment.

‘Haaa…’ she suddenly said. ‘I want to get married.’

It was not the first time she put that topic on the table but it surprised me nonetheless.

‘Naria’, I said. ‘We’re only fifteen years old.’

‘How did you guess I was thinking of you?’ she said, her cheeks turning red.

I opened my mouth then closed it, made random gestures and remained speechless.

‘I’ve often thought of you as my husband’, she added, looking below. ‘We get along so well with each other, don’t you think so?’

As a reply, I pulled her towards me and put my arms around her. Once again, it was not the first time I was doing so but I felt like the opportunity was fair enough.

‘You’re always so dreamy, Naria’, I said.

‘But tell me’, she insisted, putting her head on my shoulder, ‘have you ever thought we would make a nice couple, you and I?’

‘I have’, I simply answered, my eyes lost in the forest.

She had a little laugh.

‘Yeah, we certainly would. But there is a problem…’

‘Which one? You mean our age? We have plenty of time ahead to focus on this.’

‘No…’

She pulled herself out of my arms and faced me with a miserable expression:

‘It’s… I feel the same towards Basch…’

Him again! Why did he have to sneak into all of our conversations, and even our wedding plans?

‘I’m sorry…’ she added. ‘It’s certainly not what you would have preferred to hear… But I can’t help it!’

I shrugged.

‘According to the Family Code, polygamous marriages are forbidden in Landis since 434.’

‘This is not what I wanted to say… You know, since the beginning of our friendship, I really learnt to appreciate you for who you are: an intelligent and hard-working boy; I admired everything you had undertaken: from the law lessons with the Drimers to your incredible performance at the election, not to forget your help with the harvest and our dance at the feast. But on the other hand, I also discovered you had a twin brother, Basch, and that changed everything; it’s like the beauty I was seeing had doubled, but in a different way. Basch is hot-headed and provocative, while you are good-tempered and shy. Basch is, however, a brave boy, who follows his heart and is true to himself, and last but not least he’s open to everything and has many ideas to have fun. I… I love each of you in a proper and considerate way. And, as I told you, I want to get married.’

‘Then what? You can’t marry Basch and me at the same time! And even if that was possible, we would both refuse this upside-down situation, no doubt!’ I said angrily.

Naria’s romantic words didn’t really deserve this harsh reply, but I couldn’t stand that they were directed to my brother in addition to myself. That just didn’t make sense!

‘I know!’ she exclaimed. ‘But listen, for these thoughts are not easily spoken…’

I crossed my arms and obeyed. She lowered her look and seemed to search for words.

‘I can’t choose!’

I blinked. She continued:

‘Asking me to choose between you two is like asking a newborn to choose between breathing and eating, between the moon and the sun, between a mother and a father! You need both to be able to enjoy the gift of life. I refuse to do such a distinction. Going for one would be to betray the other and throwing a friendship into eternal disgrace. No, I’ll stay as I am, doubtful of how I will sort my life out, but I will never make a choice.’

There was a silence, then I lowered my eyes in turn and tried to understand. But there was nothing to understand. She would never be mine.

‘If you’re trying to tell me you like me as a friend, but prefer Basch as a lover, then it’s okay, you can marry him in the future. I’ll be happy for you two.’

‘No!’ she yelled. ‘You just didn’t get it, did you? I told you I bear love feelings for both of you – which is strange, I agree –, but will not choose who I will marry. At least not now.’

I sighed and hugged her once more.

‘Your whole personality is strange, Naria’, I said, ‘but I guess your charm makes up for it.’

She turned, smiled and closed her eyes. I did the same soon and my mind, carried by the light breeze, entered a state of purity and harmony, where only good thoughts existed. I began to imagine a world, ten years later, where Naria would marry my brother Basch, because that was surely what was going to happen. And then, with a little bit of mischief, I would pretend to be him, which was not difficult since we were real twins. Only our haircut differed: rather long for me, short for Basch. But that wasn’t a problem, I’d have whatever haircut he’d have at that time. And wear similar clothes. And then… And then… I would ring at the door, by the end of the day, waiting for her to open it. And then she’d open it. And then I would hold her in my arms, exactly as what I was doing at this moment. But then, I’d have more rights. Rights Basch himself could have granted me, naughty as he was, as some sort of mission to make fun of us both. I could draw my face closer to hers, feel the delicate countryside scent on her neck, dive my look into hers, and…

What was I thinking about?

I raised my head and saw only darkness.

‘It’s already night time! Sorry, I have to go!’

I jumped under the roof, leaving her sleepy head fall like an egg. She eventually woke up.

‘Oh? So soon? What were we talking about?’

‘It… It does not matter. And if I ever said something strange this afternoon, well… forget it.’

‘It’s alright! My regards to your mom! Come back soon!’

‘Aye.’

And I fled like a thief.

Months later, the same thoughts were still inside my head. Thoughts of happiness, mixed with some sort of pride and maybe jealousy at the same time. I was pleased with my life as it was; my job, my family, my friends, yet I knew that in every matter, every domain, someone would be in a way better than me, and thus happier than me. That person was often Basch but not always. I met several people at work and in different parts of Landis who had smarter ideas, clearer perspectives. I learnt from them; I helped them too, and credit was not always given to me. But I learnt to be stronger, even more patient, and took bad experiences as lessons for the future. I kept seeing Naria, of course. She seemed to love taking shelter in my arms, or Basch’s, whenever she felt down, had a problem with the farm, or when Greta Pfirsich had bad poll results in the newpapers. Naturally, I would have preferred she stayed only in _my_ arms, but if she was also happy with Basch, then so be it. These two would certainly end up married anyway, as in my dream. I thought my mother was aware of the situation, and was rather amused by it.

These last days, she appeared different than usual. She wasn’t able to do all the housework so Basch and I had to take shifts to clean the house and do extra tasks at our farm. As for the cooking, we weren’t exactly gifted so thankfully Naria was there, once a day, to help us cook delicious dishes. Basch often tried to redo them, but the result was not always convincing. He had also taken care of the sales at Waldgott after the harvest – for what result, I did not know, but at least he’d brought the money. My mother never told us exactly what she had. But from what we could see, she was quickly exhausted. She could not run anymore – maybe from breathing difficulties? – and her voice could barely stand up to a long speech. Whenever she caught a cold – and opportunities were not few with the hard winter we were living that year – it seemed that it took her more time to recover. Fever lasted longer, and at times the coughing just would not cease. I had been seriously worried many times, and had to bring the village’s doctor in the middle of the night; but in the end the worst signs always disappeared.

One day, after ensuring Mom was well, I decided, as I never stopped to do, to pay the Drimers a visit. I greeted the parents and went to the first floor, to the room where I used to study with my friends.

‘Hi!’ Little Margit said, waving at me.

‘Hello. Where’s Cirla?’

‘Above your head.’

I turned backwards and raised my look. He was indeed at the top of a long wooden ladder, busy looking for something on a high shelf.

‘Noah!’ he said. ‘You arrived just in time. We received the result from two weeks ago!’

‘What are you talking about?’ I asked, sitting on a chair.

‘Well, remember that paper you wrote about property laws?’

‘Yes, I brought you this one last time I came here. Is there a problem? Is something wrong in it?’

‘On the contrary… Lemme just find it over here…’

He moved papers around on the shelf, again and again, then Margit exclaimed:

‘It’s that one!’

‘No, this is my final exam of last year’, her brother responded.

‘No Cirla, I’m sure of it! Look! I can even recognize the ink!’

He sighed, took the pile of papers and handed it to me.

‘This is indeed what I wrote.’

‘The professor said it was primo to-the-days!’ Cirla insisted as he walked down the ladder.

‘Professor?’

‘Yes!’ Margit explained. ‘Cirla gave your paper to our professor in Archades, claiming it’s his. Since he doesn’t see us as often as the Archadian mates, he didn’t recognize Cirla’s handwriting and believed him. We asked him to send this one to us in Landis, and that’s what he kindly did. There are only praising remarks! Look!’

She was right. The professor, with a red ink, wrote at the top of the first page:

**_Made huge progress since the last session. Congratulations_ **

And inside the essay, there were several comments like:

**_Very relevant_ **

**_Well chosen words_ **

Or:

**_Good research_ **

‘Well? Whaddaya say?’ Cirla asked. ‘The professor’s pretty thick to have believed it was me!’

‘And that’s not all!’ Margit added. ‘There’s also a letter!’

‘A letter?’

‘Yes’, Cirla confirmed. ‘But it ain’t here. Our parents decided to keep it…’

‘There were so proud of what was written there!’ Margit exclaimed, visibly proud herself too.

‘And what was written exactly?’ I asked.

They exchanged an embarrassed look.

‘The professor wants to meet the parents to talk about Cirla’s future’, Margit said. ‘He seriously considers finding a position for him in the Empire. ‘ _It will be very easy, considering your son’s extraordinary and in demand abilities’_ , he says!’

‘But don’t worry, I won’t accept’, her brother said. ‘Not only because the work is not mine. I don’t want to work with the Empire.’

‘Neither do I’, admitted Margit.

‘It’s been a while I’ve been considering being a lawyer’, Cirla continued. ‘Now with this new recognition the dream becomes closer and closer.’

‘And I want to become a clerk in the Landisite juvenile court!’ Margit proudly said again, jumping all around the room.

‘I’m sure you will both attain your goals’, I smiled.

‘I’m not happy to be able to make it by such means’, Cirla regretted. ‘Maybe I don’t deserve anything.’

‘Don’t say stupidities; you’d have made it anyway without me. And I’m glad I could help… in a way.’

‘Ouch!’ Margit bumped her head against a lower shelf. ‘We’re sorry. We should have asked your permission before showing your paper to the professor. But the temptation was too big! We really wanted to see his reaction, and we were not disappointed!’

‘All this’, Cirla concluded, ‘is to tell you something. This guy in the Empire is not just any law teacher. He’s actually the most respected and severe one in the Akademy, close to whom we call the Law God, Professor Vopiscus, the Akademy’s Head. He shares many qualities with Vopiscus, including selectiveness. He doesn’t just accept any work, especially if it’s made by a stranger – you know how Archadians are. And yours… yours has amazed him. Can you believe that?’

‘It’s mean to the days!’ his sister exclaimed.

‘You can leave, Margit; this is a man to man discussion.’

As a reply, she stomped on his foot with her tongue out.

‘Ouch!’

‘Your turn!’ she said with a vengeful tone. ‘I, too, want to discuss about Noah’s future.’

And both said, almost at the same time:

‘Tell us, what do you want to become?’

I made a couple of paces backwards, not sure of what to reply.

‘I… I don’t know. I just do my day-to-day job and don’t look forward to anything. Maybe an idea will come one day – certainly – but for now I don’t promise myself to become anything particular.’

‘How is your job going?’ Margit asked, rolling her eyes.

‘Fine, thanks.’

‘How is Basch? We miss him!’

‘He’s alright, still busy hunting monsters. I’ll try to bring him with me next time.’

Not at ease with questions, I tried to ask one myself:

‘How about Doll? Any news?’

They look at each other in silence, their faces almost turned white. Then they burst out laughing.

‘Have you forgotten her already?’

They finished laughing then Margit answered, wiping tears out of her eyes:

‘Not at all. Why do you want him to forget her?’

‘But… The incident the other day… The wound in the shoulder…’

‘Bah, that’s nothing’, replied the long-haired boy. ‘I recovered shortly after.’

‘But… Weren’t there more threats after this?’

‘No.’

‘So you stopped talking to her?’

‘No.’

And the siblings laughed again. This time, I joined them.

‘That is my brother’, Margit said, pointing at him with one hand while playing with one of her cute brown curls with the other.

‘I’ll never stop talking to her; and even if she rejects me every time, I know that love always wins in the end. Even the Zodiac says we’re flawlessly compatible! The threats of her family, of the whole Empire, I do not fear; for they are but particles of void into thin air. The truth is to be discovered to the eyes of all, very soon!’, said the wannabe poet.

‘He’s crazy, isn’t he?’ his sister pursued.

I took a moment to examine him. He had changed again; behind his glasses I could see a definite and hopeful look – even if currently it was the lover’s one. His face was at that moment the one of a handsome and lively young man. His dark hair was tied in a ponytail. He was even taller and still as elegant and well-mannered as in the Feast. And of course, he had the brains. That Archadian Doll had to be a complete fool not to fall in love with him at first sight.

‘Uh… All I can say is: good luck. Well, I’ve gotta take a hike. Goodbye!’

I rushed towards home and thankfully saw Mom standing up, cooking the dinner and singing her favorite song. I randomly hugged her and took a law book to read for the evening. I thought about Basch; but then remembered I had left him in Waldgott, in a meeting with his clan. Meetings with Basch had to last long if we wanted him to understand everything.

But at least what I told my friends was true: he was alright. And I was not in conflict with him anymore. There’s this messy setting with Naria, but the most important thing was that, unlike Cirla, the girl I loved knew my feelings and never rejected me. My mother, just like her, was my greatest support and her health appeared to not get worse anymore. I was so glad to have her. I was also glad to have my friends, and to live in such a cheerful village. I was a random worker at my job, but according to Cirla, I had a very promising future. I was curious of what life could bring to me after so many adventures.

Everything was under control by this end of year 687.


	10. Part I: Childhood's End - The Invasion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is rated MA: Mature Content (18+). Scenes of extreme violence, not suitable for sensitive or young readers, will follow. Please skip this Chapter if you are not entitled to read it. The most important event is: Noah and his mother have to flee occupied Landis to the Archadian Empire, while Basch escapes on his own to Dalmasca, as mentioned in Final Fantasy XII.

__  

 _Waldgott Town, 687 (o. V.)_

I had not been able to fulfill my promise to the Drimers. Basch was not accompanying me for the visit. Well, he went to Waldgott as well, but he escaped midway to go to Bolesław’s Weaponry, as during the good old times. It seemed he would never get tired of endlessly watching the same weapons. But since that made him the happiest boy in the village, I let him go and promised I wouldn’t tell Mom.

Very little had happened since my last visit to Cirla and Margit – I only had a couple of funny stories at work to tell – but I wanted to go nonetheless. I was curious about what happened after the parents read the professor’s praising letter about _my_ paper, but that was not the main reason. Did Cirla and Margit keep the same dreams for their future, or had they changed their minds already? Was Cirla still blindly in love with the same girl for years, or did he understand he didn’t stand a chance? Or maybe it’s the girl that understood her luck and decided to take her opportunity. That would be so cute. Did Margit cook that light cake she had told us about so many times? Did she request her mother’s help to do it, or did she become a great pastry-cook by herself? What about the dancing class? Mom told me recently it was supervised by the Empress herself. Did Margit know she could meet the Empress? Or maybe she did meet her since the previous time. What about her weight loss? Well, that was none of my business. But you know what? I didn’t need a reason to go see them. They were my best friends after all – apart from Nareszcie of course.

At the entrance of the city, I recognized the cart and its driver and the chocobo, the ones that led Naria and I to Waldgott the first time we went to sell goods there for the harvest. I waved hello to him and he replied with a slight nod, his face all grim. What could he have? Maybe he was sick. Or that everybody had greeted him that morning and he was tired of answering. But I felt something else in his look. As if he was… worried. Why? I had no idea.

All above, several airships were spanning the sky; they had strange and rather modern forms. Those were certainly the new models from the East Ivalice Company, for the aerodrome was not far away. There were more airships than usual, and some of them were not too high above our heads. Maybe that was what’s bothering the cart driver? I should ask Cirla about that, maybe he knew something.

I arrived at the private housing estate where the Drimers lived, and turned at the first street. I noticed, with some surprise, a group of people running away and shouting, but no one was following them. The estate seemed perfectly calm otherwise. I kept on walking and eventually turned at the street the Drimers were living in. I rang at their door and waited for an answer, but it didn’t come.

‘Err… Mister Drimer? Cirla? Margit?’

I walked along the chain-link fence and stopped at the little steel door that was guarding the garden: it was slightly open. Did a member of the family forget to close it?

I waited ten full minutes, during which nothing happened, then decided to go inside. The house was very quiet. After having rung multiple times, no one had opened the door: they were certainly all gone on a little family trip. However, after randomly checking the grass, I noticed a familiar head.

‘Margit!’

I ran towards her.

‘Where is your brother? Cirla!’

No one answered while I was taking the few meters that separated me from her.

I let out a big laugh: her body was entirely underground; only her head topped the soil.

‘Why are you hiding in the dirt? Are you playing hide-and-seek with Cirla? I thought you considered yourselves older than that!’

I kept on laughing until I reached her, but her head didn’t move by a single inch. She was looking at the opposite side, so only the hair above her neck was visible to me.

‘Hiya! It’s me, Noah; I’m here!’

She stayed motionless.

‘Fine then, I’ll pull you out of here.’

I kneeled down and put my hands down her chin, then carried out my word.

I would never, in all Ivalice, have expected what I saw.

The head came up alone.

Narrow red threads were still attached to it, the skin had been harshly ripped, and when I looked at my hands, they were stained with blood.

I screamed for several seconds and let the head fall on the grass.

‘No… NO! MARGIT! NOT YOU!’

I randomly shook the soil under the grass and stumbled upon the rest of the body. The beheaded body.

‘No… What’s happening… What can I do?’

I yelled the parents’ names but this was certainly pointless: it was so atrocious they had to be aware already. But on the other hand, they hadn’t shown up during all this time. Were they both outside calling for help? Something was going on.

‘Cirla!’

I ran towards the house in all haste.

‘Cir…’

As soon as I began calling, I saw him. His body was pierced by a spear which end was hanging on the outside wall. Blood was flowing straight from his heart, down along the white immaculate wall, in width-varying lines. I followed these lines and found the said heart, at the bottom of the wall. It was pierced as well, but still beating. I raised my eyes once more and noticed the rest. The rest was the deep gashes all along his arms and legs, the bloody hole at the missing heart’s place on his chest, and… and then there was his head. His ears had been completely sliced from it, his nose was bleeding as well, the mouth bore a large cut across the two lips, and the once-clever eyes had been utterly torn out from the skull. The eyeless head was, by some miracle, slightly risen up, so it was as the vision of horror was observing me.

I screamed even louder and went to the other side of the house, where the main door was. Seeing it was wide open, I didn’t stop and entered. I, maybe naively, kept on calling the parents, as I was jumping on the stairs, rather than walking on them normally. With extreme fear, my head pivoted right and left before I kept on running through the main hall, right to the room I had never entered before, but that I had the urge to check at that precise moment: the parents’ bedroom. I quickly opened the door and realized the truth: they weren’t there.

‘Raaaaaaaah! What the hell is happening here?’

I stomped on the ground, not even fully feeling the tears that were falling down my cheeks, then tried to calm down. Nothing could be solved by screaming and getting angry. But my heart couldn’t stop beating at a crazy pace. I took a look left and right again, then remembered, with mixed feelings, a wide office where the Drimers used to work together. It was located on the other side of the hall, next to the room where I used to study with my friends – and where I would never study anymore. I walked there with trembling feet, then gasped and opened the door completely.

‘No… No!’

The couple was lying on the ground, holding hands and almost smiling. As usual, the mother was wearing a beautiful skirt and a simple white shirt while her husband had his elegant blue suit on. Unlike their children, their heads were unharmed. I felt like I had all eternity to look at their serene expressions. From a first look, all I could tell is that they were sleeping – on the cold ground, so a bit eccentric way to sleep, but still sleeping. I looked better and noticed the several shots each one of them had all across their chest and belly. It took the killers almost twenty bullets to get rid of each one of them. Each one of them, each incredibly active contributor to the Landisite economy, each kind and caring parent, who even had success wishes for a poor boy like myself… was dead and would never wake up from their peaceful slumber.

This time, I was desperate. I let my arms fall and my knees’ strength slowly faded away too. For a moment, I saw everything. I saw the Drimer parents naturally getting up, in that same office where they were lying a few seconds ago, and walking down the stairs to go to work. Mrs Drimer had her lovely smile on her face, and Mr Drimer was waving goodbye and asking his children to take care. The said children were there too, of course, in the room next door. They were working on some important paper to show to the Archadian professor. And, of course, they were talking to me. The three of us were laughing. Nothing could disturb our joy. Nothing.

I suddenly heard a shot in the street. Immediately, other shots could be heard as well. People were screaming and fleeing from something. I turned my head towards the window; every vision of peace had disappeared. I saw the dead bodies of the parents again, and when I reached the ground floor, I couldn’t avoid passing next to the torn body of the promising young man and the lonely head of the cheerful girl. I saw the moment they died in. I could hear their cries…

As soon as I reached the garden’s open door, everything began to take place in a sort of fast forward mode.

As soon as I reached the garden’s open door, in the outside world, I saw a little boy being slain ten meters away by a lone man with a giant axe. The child was running and crying just before the blade hit his neck.

As soon as I reached the garden’s open door, an entire troop appeared behind the kid slayer. They were wearing similar clothes as him, and were holding all manner of weapons in their hands.

As soon as I reached the garden’s open door, another group of men came from the other side of the street. But this time, I recognized them from their armors: they were the Landis army. Dad’s army.

As soon as I reached the garden’s open door, eventually, one of the Landisite soldiers, probably a captain, ran ahead of the group and stabbed the body of one of the foreign men, who had taken a step forward as well, with his spear. The body collapsed between the two groups, then there was a silence. Suddenly, the army captain let out a scream and invited his comrades to strike, but the strangers decided to flee in all directions.

The captain looked kind of relieved. He sighed, ordered a portion of his men to follow the strangers, and lowered his sight to me. I gasped as he walked towards my place.

‘This is war, my boy. The Archadians came and are making a razzia in northern territories. Their regular army began their invasion from the villages south of here, but these ones are no army, no!’

‘They are Urban Units!’ shouted a soldier behind him. ‘I heard of them! They are the vilest of all the Empire rats!’

‘They can kill widows and orphans without regret! What are they doing here, Captain?’ asked another.

‘Silence!’ the captain said. ‘For now, all we have to do is protect Waldgott’s citizens, before the Empire reaches the capital. Move, boy! If you’re from Kalthof, you should make haste and get back to your peers before fights begin there.’

And the group went away, leaving me alone in a world that never was.

Out of some impulsion, I let myself kneel on the ground and realized I had been afraid to breathe. I breathed in and out, in and out again, feeling my lungs replenish and the sound of air leave my mouth in fragile harmony. I was about to get up again when I noticed something white near the body of the fallen Urban Unit member. It was a piece of paper. I looked at the silence around me, then I knelt until I reached it and put it in my pocket before standing and taking a larger look at the town’s buildings around me.

War.

Invasion.

Began in villages.

South of…?

‘Mom!’

Without thinking, I took a step aside and began running in turn. The southern villages were the ones on the other side of the forest; that is to say, Uwielbinie! I couldn’t stand the sight of the place where I was born mistreated and sullied. But, as I was crossing the town’s main plaza, where most of the shops were, I saw the colorful sign of Bolesław’s Weaponry.

‘Basch!’

I entered the shop and quickly scanned the empty shelves and broken glass cases, but no sign of Bolesław anywhere. The place had been stripped of the majority of its once-radiant weapons, and there was a smell of burning all over. I moved forward, near the counter, and abruptly heard a muffled sound.

‘Mister Bolesław?’ I asked as I made an effort to lift myself to look on the other side.

The shop owner was lying behind the counter, motionless; a heavy brick was near his head – I guess he had the misfortune to receive it as it fell from above. But that was without mentioning what was happening outside. Any madman could have taken the opportunity to enter and hit him. Was he… dead?

‘What… do you want?’

‘Bolesław!’ I smiled.

‘Didn’t I tell you to leave? Why did you come back?’ he frowned.

‘That was my twin brother, Basch’, I explained. ‘We’re both from Uwielbinie. Did Basch tell you where he was going before leaving the shop? Please, remember!’

He let out a deep sigh as he tried to get up in the middle of the wood and stone fragments. I lent him my hand to help him out and he finally managed to get on his feet.

‘Who did you say you were again?’

‘Noah. Fon Ronsenburg. From Uwielbinie. Nevermind, I’m the twin brother of the boy who came to the shop earlier. That’s why we look alike.’

I was so much in a rush to get this damned answer that I did not exactly know what I was saying. And I did not care much.

‘Wait, wait… What did you say?’

‘Please, remember!’ I repeated, joining my hands in a useless prayer.

‘Oh, yes, a boy! You say he is your brother? But that was you! No way… How did your hair grow so fast?’

‘Please, tell me what did this boy… or _I_ tell you the last time we met!’

‘But… Uwielbinie… Yes… You told me you were going there as soon as you saw the army outside! That you _had_ to go back there.’

‘Thank you, Bolesław!’

I left him scratching the top of his head in confusion.

He was right. Basch had to have the same idea as me: that he _had_ to go back to the village. I continued running south until I reached the edge of the forest. I could already hear the noise of battles, so I systematically chose the opposite way to where they came from. That made the journey a little longer, but I had to avoid fights by all means. Like, what was I even supposed to do if some Archadian bucket head appeared in front of me with a sword? I wouldn’t stand a chance. So I ran.

I entered the wood with a feeling of sweat rolling down my back. The evidence was there: I did not know who could be hidden in the bushes, where the safest way to home could be, or even if such a way existed. I was only used to crossing a small portion of the forest while visiting Naria, and never paid attention to its size while going to Waldgott with the cart. Crossing it entirely, all afoot, seemed for me impossible. But the thought of my mother being alone with the Archadian soldiers was even more impossible. I tried to focus on this thought and moved forward.

I was walking at a fast pace, approximately knowing where I was going. As I kept going, I could hear far-away noises. I walked farther and understood there were noises of battle. As of that moment, I felt stunned and my legs wouldn’t move. Battles… near home? Could I still call this place home at the moment? No, but there was Mom. Mom! I could never let my mother down and run away after all she’d done for Basch, for me, and for so many others. Where would I run away, anyway?

‘Aaah!’

I let out a frightful scream as soon as I heard a gunshot just some meters away. As I heard footsteps coming from the same place, I jumped in the nearest bush and kept myself hidden.

‘Hey! Did you hear that?’

Someone was indeed there. I heard another person sniffing before answering:

‘What?’

‘That sound.’

Archadian accent. I gasped.

‘Wait, did you just say there was someone here? Come on mate, there’s just the two of us waiting for orders as we’ve been told two hours ago.’

‘But… Maybe you’re right. Two hours, you say? I’d have sworn it was rather two days…’

I sighed, as quietly as I could, and kept on listening to the voices slowly fading away. I remained concentrated until I could hear them no more. Then I stood up, first inside the bush, and after making sure there was nobody, outside of it. I removed the leaves stuck on my skin by sweat, and began running. I had to make haste: if the Archadians were indeed in Uwielbinie, the situation could be far worse than what I had imagined. I ran for an unknown duration; as I was too busy observing the surroundings to have the slightest idea about time. At times, I would stop, listen carefully to the battle noises and adapt my path accordingly, without straying too much. But I kept on running. Slowly, I began to realize I had travelled a big part of the distance to the village. Half of it – maybe two thirds. Which meant one hour. But I didn’t have time to feel terror’s shiver shake my legs and scream to stop. Nor had I the right to feel any kind of exhaustion or discouragement. I _had_ to make it, just like Basch _had_ to make it. We would both make it. And join Mom. That was all.

Suddenly, I joined a portion of the forest where birds were leaving the trees by ranks. I took fright and hid again in the closest bush. But after a minute, I noticed there was no one around. I left my hideout carefully and put, once again, my feet on the ground. I took the time to breathe a little before concentrating on what could be happening. I was about to give up and hide again – too afraid to run where there could be soldiers – when I heard a group of voices. I turned towards them – they were hopefully far away from me, at least three hundred meters. That’s when I saw them: several men, maybe a dozen, aligned in front of shorter humans… children.

I heard them laugh and talk to the children, who could be friends or part of the same family. I could not, however, distinguish their words, for they had been mixed with the sudden sound of guns and steel, coming from a further distance. The children were gathered between a couple of trees, and didn’t seem to move. Then one of the grown-up voices barked something and the kids screamed. I tried to observe them and, from what I could see, noticed the eldest of the group could be my age or younger than me. The adults began to make big gestures and move along their line – and I realized they could easily turn their heads and see me. I tried to hide behind a tree and continued observing – for running at that moment was far too risky, and my legs wouldn’t follow.

The path of the adults led them to the group of kids, with each one eventually holding one of them as they were probably trying to escape. Each adult led his hostage to a tree in front of him and ropes appeared. It was inevitable. The adults were certainly Archadian, but why weren’t they wearing armors? And… And why children? I suddenly felt that if I was in Basch’s company, I would have tried something to help them, to take them out of there, no matter what was going to happen. But I was alone. All alone. And I was a coward. I knew that any attempt would lead to nothing but my mother losing a son. So I kept on waiting. Yes, I waited.

My fears were suddenly shaken by the foreigners laughing again. I held my breath and raised my look to the scene. Between two gunshots, I heard:

‘Let’s go! Let’s do it!’

‘Isn’t this what we came here for?’

‘Nobody can see us!’

I held the tree tightly with my hands until they began to hurt. The ropes had been tied to the trees, and now the Archadians were approaching them to the children’s necks. One after the other, the kids had been tightly fastened, and all their moves were soon in vain. I could hear some of them cry, others began to panick and screamed at the top of their lungs. But it was too late. It all happened too quickly.

‘All at once! All at once!’

‘Slowly… don’t kill him yet! Oh, this one’s dead, dammit. Let’s play with the other!’

My stomach began to send alarm signals. I kept my eyes wide open and abruptly felt like struck by a thunderstorm: I knew these kids. They were… They were the group of boys Basch used to play with.

‘Come on, let’s not miss it, this time! One! Two! Threeee!’

‘Hahaha! Almost perfect!’

They were the ones who applauded at my dance with Naria during the village feast.

‘Look, this one’s still jiggling! Should we try something?’

‘Wait! I have an idea!’

Riza. Masyn. Kovt. They all had names and families that were closer to me than I could have imagined.

‘This one’s colour is so funny! Does it remind you of the same thing…?’

‘Heh heh heh! Ho ho… To adjudge, I want to see him naked!’

‘All naked! All naked!’

And they began stripping the boys of their clothes. One by one. They continued to laugh, and my mind was devoid of thoughts when I suddenly heard a child’s cry. My nausea accentuated and I felt like I could take no more. But there was no way out; there was nothing I could do, and nowhere I could go safely. I was forced to see and to hear what I was seeing and hearing, and that was tearing my body to pieces.

‘Good boy! Aren’t they better when they’re dead?’

‘Hah! Are you even sure he is?’

‘Doesn’t matter… Give me the dagger! I want his hand apart. I want a Landis hand in my living room.’

‘Let’s cut all their parts! A distinguished treat!’

I hadn’t even felt the vomiting come. I threw up all sorts of food and emotions against the tree and immediately after my legs moved all by themselves. They certainly had seen – or heard – me so it was useless to hide anymore. I ran and ran until I noticed a clear path in front of me: it was the path to the Olszewski farm. But most importantly, it was on the opposite way of the Archadians, so I followed it without hesitating. As I was trying to breathe properly, I realized Naria’s farm was the logical way to reach home, since it was just north of it. What would she say if I told her what I saw? How could I ever tell her anyway? I had to hurry to talk to her and make sure she’s okay before heading to Mom.

At some point, I decided to stop and catch my breath. I turned back: no one was following me. At least something good: I had escaped… But there had to be soldiers – or maybe crueler men like the ones I saw – in Uwielbinie Village, which was not far away at that moment. What catastrophes were awaiting me there?

I took a long breath and hurried up towards Naria’s farm. That was my first step, and the sooner I’d check what was happening there, the sooner I’d be at Mom’s side. I almost smiled when I heard frenetic screams from my favorite chocobo:

‘Kweh! Kweh! Kweh!’

Book was trying to say something as he ran towards me.

‘Good… Good chocobo. Where is Naria?’

‘Kweh! Kweh!’

Book’s state was far from normal. He was possibly terrified – but I did not want to believe that something bad had happened there. Not there _too_. So I thought he might still be sick, or surprised. But that was no reason to slow down: I continued running until I reached the big property’s limits.

As soon as I entered, I noticed the ravages made in the fields. There was absolutely nothing remaining: the flowers, the vegetables, the grains… all were severely damaged, upside down, as if a group with the sole purpose of ruining the harvest had passed.

‘What is this?’

I turned left, where the workers’ leader’s hut was. I wondered if he was aware of the situation, and if he had warned his little mistress about it. Maybe he didn’t want her to be involved in this most horrendous thing? Anyway, someone had to tell her, at least to take her to a safe place – although I did not know one.

‘Aaah!’

I let out a scream of terror at lowering my eyes. Sydor was there, outside the hut, lying on the cold ground. He had been stabbed on the chest and was motionless. Only blood was flowing outside his body.

‘Sydor! Sydor!’

I tried to wake him up but it was too late. Where were all of the other workers? They certainly had run away when they saw the soldiers. Why did this lovely farm have to endure this too?

‘Naria!’

If Sydor was dead, that meant Naria was in great danger! I had to figure out where she was.

I finished inspecting the garden and the fields, and apart from desolation, I saw nothing special. If Naria was still in the property, she had to be inside. So I ran into the house where we celebrated so many birthdays, organized so many eating contests, and played so much, under the constant rumbling of Karol Olszewski against the Ronsenburg offspring.

‘Naria!’

I jumped over the stairs, heading towards her bedroom, which, surprisingly, I did not know so much. I shook away the sheets, opened the cupboards, looked under the bed, but had to admit the truth: she was not there. I then examined the late parents’ bedroom, the old attic, the bathrooms, but still found nobody. Disappointed, I returned on the ground floor, entered the kitchen, the utility room, and the main living room, and concluded Naria had escaped – which was good. Indeed, if she could escape Sydor’s fate, and run to hide in my house with my mother, or elsewhere, I could hope for nothing better. I could already see the scenario: Sydor defended her and the farm against the Archadian soldiers, and stood fast in front of them while allowing Naria to flee. That’s why I could not find her in the…

I suddenly gasped.

She was there.

In the small second living room of the house, behind the main one – the one where we used to play hide-and-seek and have a snack in the afternoon – I saw her.

A young girl, with scruffy blond hair hiding her face, was standing against the bottom wall. I approached and understood Nareszcie was not standing. Her wrists and ankles had been nailed down to the wall; thin lines of blood were running from the cold grey nails. Like the children in the forest, her clothes had been torn off – I could still see a portion of her white dress hanging over her left shoulder; she was otherwise completely naked. I soon noticed they didn’t just stop there. The ones who hung her left a big slice between her two little breasts, going all the way down to her belly. Blood was flowing from there too, in big quantities. The red liquid was also present down her neck and shoulders, along with bruises which were testament to a long struggle against her attackers. I followed the trail of the blood, lowered my look, and saw it was also pouring down her legs. I followed it on the other side, and… and saw the place between her legs. Bruises were also present there – what could it mean? The place was… like a war scene itself. There were cuts everywhere, the colors melted one into the other: blue, red, black, yellow… I could barely see her white skin. I noticed that her legs, while hung, had been widely spread. Without breathing anymore, my eyes caught the sight of the floor right below her, and I immediately understood. There was a huge puddle of blood, the blood that was pouring from… that place. My shoes left a red trace when I made paces backwards. I caught my breath with something heavy stuck inside my throat, and raised my eyes again. I wanted them to catch the beautiful look of my friend, one last time.

‘Naria…’

I tenderly moved her hair away and… and smiled when I recognized her unique face. It was maimed as well, but I couldn’t help smiling nonetheless. Naria. Nareszcie. The courageous farmer. I called her one more time, and waited for an answer, which didn’t come.

‘Naria?’

Of course. She was dead. How could one survive such a big cut in the chest?

There, just like in the forest, I felt like I could take no more. But that time, instead of my stomach, it was the thing blocking my throat that suddenly released and gave the signal for my tears to go out. I cried until I realized I had wasted too much time: I was forgetting the most important person’s safety to check: my mother’s.

‘Naria…’

I tried to cause a reaction on her face but it remained emotionless. Still crying, I held her in my arms and hid my face on her shoulder. I couldn’t even hold her properly due to the nails hindering any move of her arms; but still, I had to do it. I looked at her one ultimate time and noticed something rather surprising: her lips, which I hadn’t actually observed, were almost shaped into a smile.

I left her with this vision in mind, and ran towards home.

‘Mommy!’

With this cry for help, I let the tears flow again; the subject was too sensitive. With Cirla dead, Margit dead, Naria dead; what if I found my own mother dead too? I could not bear it. I could not bear it a single second.

I think I threw all the energy I had left in that final race to home. When I arrived at our little farm, I was exhausted, all soaking in sweat and tears, and I had no idea where my mother could be.

‘Mom!’

As in the other cases, I began by examining the garden, the flock – they were still at their usual location – and the places around the house, before entering into it. The surroundings seemed somewhat untouched. Could that be of good omen for Mom? I was hoping with all my heart that it was.

‘Mom!’

She was not in the living room. Bad sign… I entered all the bedrooms – mine was surprisingly messy – and called her in vain. There were few chances she’d be there at that moment…

‘Mom!’

I was about to give up and go to my room, without a precise goal, when I remembered the _other_ place Mom spent a lot of time in. The kitchen! My heart was beating faster than ever.

‘Mom!’

‘Noah!’

I burst out crying when I heard my name spoken with the blessed voice. I rushed into the kitchen and found my mother lying on the ground, visibly weak, and almost unconscious. However, I still hid into her arms as I’d have done if she had been in good health. As soon as I caught my breath, I began talking:

‘Mom! They raped Naria, they tortured Cirla and Margit, they killed their parents! There are Archadian soldiers everywhere, not to mention those evil Urban Units! They were in the for…’

‘I know. Basch told me everything.’

‘B… Basch?’

I hadn’t completely forgotten about my brother, of course, but after searching for him in Waldgott, I had thought he would have been hidden somewhere in the village. Actually, I was expecting to see him there, in the house, looking after Mom.

‘Where is he, Mom? Did he come here?’

‘Y… Yes… He came and… He went…’

‘Where?’

‘I… don’t know…’

‘And you just let him out, did you!!’ I said, moving out of her arms in awe.

My mother sighed and tried to sit down on the ground.

‘Please… understand me. I have had a crisis this morning… little time after you went out. I have been sick since then… Didn’t have the energy to move. Basch found me in the same place you did… and after talking about what’s outside… he said he would check something in his bedroom. Can you go and tell me… if he’s still there?’

‘Of course he isn’t anymore! He just…’

I had no idea what he did. Is it him who had left our bedroom in such a mess? Because Mom had no reason to do so. But neither did Basch…

‘Sorry, Mom. I shouldn’t talk to you this way.’

I caught her arm and helped her walking towards the living room.

‘I’ve been told in Waldgott that Basch had come here, but I didn’t expect him to go so fast. To where? There isn’t even a single safe place out there anymore.’

‘I know…’ Mom replied. ‘If your brother has indeed left the house, I am severely worried. He was carrying a sword when he came here.’

‘Don’t… worry about the sword, Mom’, I said in a somewhat reassuring tone. ‘I’m sure he knows how to use it now, considering how long he’s been practicing.’

I said this but of course, I was scared as hell myself. Basch was the only brother I had. He _had_ to be alright. And come back soon to us. Eventually, I couldn’t help but share some of my anxiety with her:

‘Oh Mom, why did this have to happen? An invasion! What do these Archadians want? Why are they killing so many people? That’s not fair! That’s not justice!’

‘Each of the persons in charge has their own definition of justice… I am afraid.’

‘But that is wrong! It’s written in the 7th article of the…’

‘Hush… Someone.’

I felt like my blood turned cold. I kept quiet and lowered my head. I dared to look outside the window… but there was no one.

‘I thought… I thought someone was coming’, my mother eventually said.

‘Don’t give me a scare like that!’ I whispered, still frightened.

I lent my ear carefully and heard, indeed, some footsteps.

‘They’re not here’, I whispered again. ‘But they are close.’

Mom nodded.

‘I still wonder why Basch went away without telling you anything!’ I said angrily, forgetting my vigilance. ‘And after seeing you on the ground! If you hadn’t called me, I’d have thought you were dead.’

I was meaning every word. Why did you leave her, brother? Wasn’t she the most valuable woman in your life, as she was in mine? Didn’t you say to Bolesław you _had_ to go back home? Where the hell had you gone, at that precise moment where we needed you? At that precise moment where we needed to stand together as a family?

‘I don’t know if it’s safe… to stay here’, Mom suddenly said.

‘Why do you say so?’

‘Open the door!’ yelled a voice with an unfortunate typical Archadian accent.

All of my respiratory system stopped working. That was it. I was dead. We were all dead. Unlike Basch, I did not know how to fight, so I was useless to Mom. I would have hoped for a thousand better deaths than this, but it was too late. We were dead and there’s nothing I could do.

‘Smash it open!’ said the voice, which visibly did not wait for my thoughts to get in order.

‘No!’ suddenly yelled Mom.

I stood there gaping. Why did she talk? Did she want a quick death?

‘My son, go and open the door.’

‘But! They are Archadians…’

‘I know. Just do it. Please.’

For a second, I thought to refuse, but after all, we were all going to die. She was right: better sooner than later. With undead-like gestures, I walked to the door and opened it.

As soon as the lock was released, one of the soldiers rushed inside, rapidly followed by the other. No one else was following: they were only two.

‘Who’s there?’ barked the second one.

Hiding behind the door, I could only catch my breath. Feel life one last time.

‘Here I am’, my mother said, who was not hiding at all.

‘Who are you? Speak!’

‘My name is Linda Gabranth. I am an Archadian citizen.’

Wh… Why on Ivalice did she say that? Did she have no pride? And even without considering the question, wasn’t she in Landis at that moment? What reason did they have to believe her?

‘Heh!’ the soldier said. ‘And I am the Emperor’s son. Say who you are or the boy is dead!’

I gasped: they had seen me. I was right _and_ they’d seen me. Both were holding rather scary swords. I could indeed be dead in a second.

‘I swear I tell no lies! My first name is Lindiwe and I have grown up into House Gabranth, of lesser nobility, but still a noble house of the City of Archades! We used to live in Trant!’

‘You can lie all the time you want, no one here is going to believe you!’ the soldier replied harshly. ‘Gruff, we do as Judge Petra said. Let’s…’

And he took out his sword. I screamed.

‘Wait’, the other soldier said. ‘I had a colleague in the capital who’d often talk about a friend of that name.’

‘Which name?’ the other said. ‘Don’t make us lose time!’

‘Gabranth!’ Gruff replied with some sort of impatience. ‘I had seen him a couple of times; House Gabranth indeed exists, they live in the Trant neighbourhood, they’re all blond-haired, like these two, and my memory just made the link with their lineaments.’

‘So she speaks the truth?’ asked the other with the same annoyance.

‘Possibly.’

The soldier looked daggers at me, waited several seconds in a warrior position, then finally sighed and put his weapon back in its sheath… before taking it out once more.

‘What about the boy?’ he asked, pointing the sword at my mother.

‘This boy is my son! Come here, Gabranth!’

Why was she calling me by that name?

‘Come on!’ she added.

I obeyed, gulping when I passed in front of the two dreadful men.

‘Here he is. Gabranth.’

‘I thought Gabranth was your family name!’ Gruff said.

‘That is correct’, answered Mom. ‘But I also gave my son that same name because I am much attached to my Archadian sense of belonging. My family has always been faithful to the Emperor.’

Where did she come up with all these lies? And above all, why was she telling them?

‘Well’, Gruff said, ‘what say you?’

‘Hmpf! There’s nothing to be said’, the other replied while eventually putting his sword away for good. ‘I doubt Her Honor would be glad to hear some people close to His Excellency have been harmed. Let’s move!’

And both headed outside. Was it too good to be true?

‘If I were you, I’d move away from here as fast as possible.’

‘Gruff is right! Our comrades may not be as lenient as we are.’

And on that note, they left the house. I let myself fall on the ground. What a relief! I had really thought we were done for. But now… did we have to leave?

‘Ah!’

Mom had fallen on the ground too, but not out of relief.

‘Mom!’

I tried to put her back on her feet but this time, it seemed she had lost all the energy she had left.

‘Gabranth… I cannot…’

‘What are you saying? Come on! We have to g… We have to do something! We have to look for Basch!’

‘No… Go alone… Ah! If only I knew someone alive I could entrust you to. You must look for your brother and leave. I would only halt your advance.’

‘Mom! Don’t ever say that again! I will go nowhere without you, understood?’

She began to cry but soon, her sobbing was stopped by her breathing difficulties.

‘Mom! Are you alright?’

‘I… I am not, my son… I…’

‘I’ll go see if the doctor is still in the village!’

‘No, don’t… He… has certainly gone… Like the others…’

‘But what are we going to do, then?’

My mother tried to speak but all of her words were swallowed by an internal force that consumed her very life. No! Not now! She never had so sharp a crisis before, I was sure. Why was her health fading all of a sudden?

‘Mom. Listen. I will try to bring some help from the village. And at the same time, I’ll try to find Basch! We’re all going to be fine, okay?’

Of course, I did not believe a single word of that last sentence but I wanted to reassure Mom with all my heart. She simply nodded while letting her head fall down. This vision of my mother, once so strong with land work, housework and kids upbringing, made me want to cry again but I managed to hold back my tears and go out.

I had decided to take paces outside, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t still terrorized. There could still be soldiers anywhere – and this time, Mom wasn’t there to persuade them. Fortunately, I saw none at the farm’s surroundings, so I headed towards the village’s central place. I passed the path to the northern forest with teary eyes. Naria… So Basch knew! Why would he leave us at such a moment, knowing what had happened to our dearest friends?

‘Hey, you! Stop!’

My heart was about to obey as soon as I heard the manly voice. I gulped, then, while turning back, I realized the voice had a Landisite accent.

‘What are you doing? This is no place for kids!’

‘Sorry, I’m Noah, Linda’s son. Did you see my brother, Basch fon Ronsenburg?’

‘I didn’t. Now leave!’

The man turned left, looking at all directions – certainly preparing to defend against an Archadian opponent. I began moving backwards, then, when the man disappeared, I pursued my track.

I found several other men from the village near the central place. Some were taking out their weapons; others were placing their wives and children on carts pulled by visibly exhausted chocobos. I asked each person I could approach, but none had seen Basch that day. I also asked about the doctor, of course… But people’s faces were rather dull when I evoked the subject.

Ultimately, I reached the central place. I soon understood I shouldn’t have.

There were Archadian soldiers everywhere, fighting Landis’s army. The so joyful place of the feast had become the main battlefield of the whole country’s invasion. Landisite soldiers were falling one after the other – it seemed no one stood a chance. Was it that the Archadians brought more potions? I did not know a bit about battle rules. If only Basch had been there, he’d have explained everything. Basch! I had to ask about him. But how could I? Blood and despair were surrounding me at that moment…

‘Linda’s son!’

Was it an angel’s voice coming from the skies?

‘Linda’s son!’ screamed the voice again.

I turned towards it and saw a short Landisite warrior wielding a stick.

‘Flee! Flee at once!’

‘You… You know my mother? She is currently suffering from a severe illness! Where is the doctor?’

He looked at me with rolled eyes.

‘The doctor is the first they slayed while arriving at Uwiel’, he answered.

‘But what can I do to help her?’ I said, on the verge of bursting into tears.

‘You and she must leave Landis at all cost!’ he said in a most anxious tone.

‘Leave? But I’m looking for my brother Basch!’

Of course. Another ‘I don’t know about him’ and ‘Go’.

‘Basch has gone. You should follow his example and quit the country.’

Wait. Wait. Was this _for real_?

‘WHERE IS HE?’ I screamed with all my lungs.

‘I don’t know, but far from here! He jumped into a cart that was going to Dalmasca, that’s all I could see!’

‘To… to DALMASCA? Are you certain?’

‘Yes! Please take Linda far from here and run! It’s a matter of minutes before they raid your home’s area! Don’t waste a single…’

An Archadian soldier suddenly appeared from behind, holding a war hammer above us. I began yelling and putting my hands above my head… Several seconds later, I was still alive.

‘Run! Run!’ the short man repeated.

He had stopped the hit at the right moment, with his bony stick.

This time, I didn’t think and ran. I ran as fast as I could, until I reached home again.

‘Mom?’

Thanks to the gods, if they did exist, she was still alive in the living room. She even somehow found the strength to sit down on the armchair. Now I had to announce what I had heard. How could I? I sighed and eventually spat it out:

‘Basch has fled to Dalmasca.’

‘To… Dalmasca? But why?’

‘I don’t know, Mom. What should we do? I’ve also heard… the doctor’s dead.’

‘Then… we will leave too.’

‘Leave? Where to?’

She didn’t answer and tried to get up. Of course, she didn’t manage to and I had to help. She led me to my bedroom and showed me a medium-sized bag on my bed.

‘I gathered some of the clothes you’ll need. Let us go at once.’

‘But… Mom… Basch!!’

‘Basch has not left alone, yes? I think… I think he’ll be just fine. We will… contact each other later.’

‘That’s right… He went with some people on a cart. But who are these people? Why did they accept to take him with them? What if he is actually in danger right now?’

‘I have all faith in people from the village’, she simply answered.

While I was talking, she had moved, with difficulty, to her own room, and taken out a similar bag from it.

‘We… we have to go’, she repeated.

I followed her, speechless, as she carried the bags, went out of the house and locked all of its doors.

‘We… We aren’t going to leave forever, are we?’ I asked.

‘Gabranth… We…’

She suddenly fell on the ground again.

‘Mom! No!’

I released her from the bags and made her sit in the garden. With a sign of her hand, she made me understand that she needed time to breathe properly again. Meanwhile, I turned around the house, with heavy steps, thinking about an idea.

‘Kweh!’

Before reaching the back of the house, I raised my eyes and saw him: Book, Naria’s faithful chocobo.

‘Book…? So you followed me all along?’

He seemed still panicked, but otherwise in a better shape than next to the Olszewski farm.

‘I know! We will use Book to escape to the nearest safe place! Mom! Have you heard?’

I was too far. I brought the chocobo with me in front of the main door and repeated.

‘F… Fine…’ she said.

‘Where are we going?’

‘To… To the east’, she quickly replied.

‘East?’ I repeated while attaching the bags to Book’s back. ‘But east, there’s the Archadian Empire! They will kill us even faster there! How are we supposed to move to the enemy’s place?’

‘That’s… that’s the only way…’ she said.

I gathered all my strength to lift my mother up in front of the bags; my first attempt was successful. To Archadia? Was this a joke? I could never stand living in Archadia, even temporarily! But I was too scared to stay in the village, and if the way east was devoid of fights, that was indeed the only path we could take.

‘So… so we shall go?’

‘Yes’, answered Mom one more time.

‘Alright.’

I jumped over Book in my turn, and, with much emotion, gently hit the chocobo’s flank so we could go.

‘Kweeeeh!’

I didn’t have an exact idea of where the east was, so I asked my mother. I waited several seconds for an answer but it didn’t come.

‘Mom?’

I turned around and noticed in alarm that her loosened body was about to fall from the animal.

‘Mom! Mom! Can you sit?’

‘N… No, I’m afraid…’

‘Then come in front of me! I’ll hold you until we arrive! Book! Stop!’

It was a pathetic sight, to be honest. The poor woman could not even raise her head… I tried to disregard this and kept to my word. I held Book’s harness with one hand and Mom with the other arm, and there we went off.

We had been riding for half an hour when my mother regained consciousness.

‘Where… are we?’ she said, while holding her forehead.

‘East of the village. You were right: there’s not a single battle here. But starting from now, I don’t know much where to go so… it’s a good thing you’re back, Mom.’

She turned to me and smiled.

‘I will not fail you, my son. I… I think I will hang on. We will stay together and arrive safely to our final destination in…’

She suddenly stopped. There was much noise around us… the noise of battle. Mom turned forward and faced the sad landscape I was facing myself. Everywhere, other chocobos were running, and on them, Archadian soldiers. With their sparkling armors, they were largely dominating the field, leaving only a few Landisites standing. And those who were still standing did not seem to make much advance. Their peers had fallen in various places like shooting stars around us – it was only them in the field. And blood. Much blood.

‘Gabranth!’ Mom yelled.

An Archadian was riding right in our direction. In all haste, I hit Book with my leg and we began moving to the right.

‘Kweh!’

Our chocobo kept running, followed by the Archadian’s one, and we escaped just as the latter was about to slice us in two with his greatsword.

‘Come on Book! Faster!’

The animal seemed somewhat startled. Not again! I kept on trying to command him and he eventually ran faster to the other side of the field. Of course, we were still chased by the other madman, ever determined, but with so many fights still occurring around, he ultimately lost our track. As we continued to escape the struggles, I slowly realized that, had I not met Naria, I would never have known how to ride a chocobo with ease. And at that moment… Mom and I would have probably been dead.

‘Gabranth…’ Mom repeated.

‘We’re safe’, I said, not sure about why she kept saying her maiden name.

She let out a deep sigh and entered her KO state anew.

‘Mom!’

It was useless. She was still breathing, but the shock and the travel certainly did not help her feel better than in the house. If only we weren’t in midst a war! There had to be a white mage somewhere…

‘Blind!’ someone shouted.

I let Book rest for some seconds and turned towards the voice’s provenance. That wasn’t _exactly_ the kind of magic I was asking for, but it caught my attention nonetheless. Especially since the person who cast the spell wasn’t a male. Of course, I knew there were female warriors, and that was a good thing, but to be honest I did not hear of many of them in the Army. I approached her with care – she was on a chocobo as well and had a giant bow on her back – and the first thing that struck me was her height. She was way above two meters tall, and it seemed she could not find clothes of her size because she was rather… lightly dressed. Two bunny ears topped her head.

‘You, there!’

She turned to us in a flash – there was lightning in her hazel eyes. I was about to say something to defend Mom when I let out a scream: the viera in front of us was not on Landis’s side. The spell she had cast was over a group of my country’s soldiers, who soon fell on the ground, unable to hit her.

‘Is she awake?’ the viera asked with a cold voice.

‘No’, I replied.

‘Where are you going?’

‘To Archades’, my mother’s voice suddenly rose up.

‘Mom!’

With much effort, she put weight to Book’s back and managed to raise her head a little bit to face her.

‘We go to the Imperial Capital. We are… We are Archadians.’

‘Then you seek Mallicant.’

The viera emitted a piercing sound with her mouth.

‘Mallicant!’ she called, after waiting for a short moment.

Immediately after, a big green horse with a dozen heavy tentacles appeared out of the blue, its snout right against Mom’s head. My mother screamed and lost consciousness again.

‘What is this? What have you done?’ I asked, beginning to panick.

‘Mallicant has always been curious about white magic. You will ride her.’

‘What? Me? This thing?’

‘Mallicant knows the way to Archades. That’s where we come from. You can leave this chocobo and ride her until the capital.’

‘I will never abandon Book!’ I said vigorously.

She gazed at our chocobo, visibly dismayed at how tired he was.

‘If you’re keen on keeping this animal, then you can stay on it and follow Mallicant to Archades.’

‘Why would we do such a thing? We know nothing about you! I don’t trust you at all!’

I wasn’t sure if this was the reaction Mom would have wanted, but I was all alone to make decisions now.

‘Then stay here and die!’ the viera said, turning angry. ‘There’s nothing for you here anymore. Landis is dead! If you wish to keep this woman alive, you had better hurry to the Empire.’

I randomly caressed Book’s feathers. What should we do? Trust an Archadian viera, or go elsewhere? What if the battles would be following us wherever we went? If only chocobos could talk and give advice…

‘Please leave at once’, the viera suddenly ordered.

That did it!

‘There’s no way we’re following that thing! This is a trap! If you know the way to the Empire, why not show it to us yourself?’

‘Because if we keep talking like this, many wounded people here who await help will never be rescued!’

She didn’t seem to be joking. Rescuing? Why not rescue Mom first, then? Wait… that was a bad idea. I wouldn’t let this woman touch a single one of my mother’s hair.

‘Aaaargh!’ I screeched. ‘Fine. I’ll make Book follow your horse.’

Without facial reaction, she bent over her beast and said:

‘Take these people to the Mistress. She will know what to do with them.’

Without looking at her as she was taking out her bow, I pulled Book’s reins and we went past the remaining fight scenes, following the steps of the green beast, that was already far.

All tossed around, Mom’s body was still at the front with the bags, and I tried my best to hold it firmly so it wouldn’t fall again, as we were passing the last groups of warriors.

The green horse galloped and galloped, and arrived at the edge of a moor that was spanning till the horizon. The border with the Empire had to be close.

Steadily sitting on Book, I turned around to see my country one last time.

Cries of despair, pain and dereliction invaded my mind. It seemed they were all that was remaining of Landis at this moment. Nothing could breed anew in these lands anymore. The landscapes I was seeing were condemned to eternal mourning, and then to oblivion. A strong wind had begun to blow against my neck. I closed my eyes and replaced my head forward. I did not know exactly where I was going, nor the reason I was leaving or if I would ever turn up somewhere alive. I didn’t know exactly what I would miss, what was to regret. I didn’t know exactly if this was a new departure or a new end. But there was one thing I knew, one bitter truth that undeniably would not be swallowed easily, even after a hundred years. I opened my eyes and glanced at the crimson sky as I reflected upon what would become the biggest question mark in my life.

‘BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASCH!’

I think… This was the end of my childhood.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to warmly thank everybody who read my story until this point. This is the End of Part I: Noah in Landis. Please leave a comment and speak your mind about what you found, what you felt, and what you expect to see in this little corner. Part II is in progress. And it may blow minds. - Ety


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